The Hope Centre in Alberton has added apartments to its community centre. (Canadian Mental Health Association)

A new apartment complex for people with mental illness in western P.E.I. still has to raise thousands of dollars before a scheduled opening next month.

The Hope Centre in Alberton is building six apartments onto its facility which offers mental health day-support programs. The apartment complex, the first of its kind west of Summerside, is scheduled to open at the end of January.

But the P.E.I. division of the Canadian Mental Health Association still needs to raise $10,000 to furnish those apartments.

"It's really important that we're able to give them a nice place to live. There's such a need to have safe, affordable, secure housing," said Les Wagner CMHA regional director.

"Some people may be living in community-care facilities or may be living with aging parents and not have those basic furniture things that people might typically have."

The construction project was 10 years in the making and cost $500,000, with funding from both the federal and provincial governments. Wagner is confident the final few thousand dollars required can be raised.

"People of West Prince and businesses are really good at making donations and supporting these causes in their communities. So yeah, we're really hopeful," he said.

There are 14 people on a waiting list to get into the apartments.