Residents at Poplar Villa celebrated 40 years of keeping community residents from Poplarfield and nearby communities close to home by making housing in the rural area affordable.
The Manitoba Housing complex opened on Sept. 20, 1985. It was built with funding assistance from the federal government through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Interlake-Gimli MLA Derek Johnson paid a visit to the Villa and congratulated residents on their 40th anniversary. He presented them with a commemorative plaque, which says the Villa “stands as a testament to the dedication of those who have worked to provide seniors with comfort, dignity, and connection close to home.”
Poplarfield is a farming community in the Rural Municipality of Fisher. The town was settled primarily by Ukrainians at the turn of the twentieth century. People farmed and built businesses and architecturally significant churches, including St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church and Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Manitoba Housing offers affordable rental housing to rural seniors and other residents on a rent-geared-to-income basis. In addition to its suites, Poplar Villa has a kitchen and lounge where residents can get together to cook and share stories or enjoy a meal with their families, as well as a garden where residents can grow their own vegetables. The Villa is close to a small convenience store and restaurant in the King Buck Inn and the Interlake Pioneer Trail, a former CN rail line.
