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HOUSING AGAIN • Bulletin ________________________________________ Number 131 May 2010 Housing Again Bulletin, an initiative of Raising the Roof, sponsored by Direct Energy. A monthly electronic bulletin highlighting what people are doing to put housing back on the public agenda in Ontario, across Canada and around the world. Our websites are: Shared Learnings on Homelessness http://www.sharedlearnings.org Raising the Roof http://www.raisingtheroof.org/ If you have any tips for the Bulletin please e-mail: annemarie.aikins@gmail.com --------------------------------------------------- In this Issue: Feature: Dedicated Plan in Development to End Youth Homelessness in Calgary Community Profile: Infinity Project Recognized for Outstanding Work with Homeless Youth News Briefs: One in Five Households Struggle with Affordability, Australia Establishes Special Day to Draw Attention to Youth Homelessness, Ontario Girls Ask Queen’s Park to Tackle Youth Homelessness, MHCC Seeks Input Through Housing Questionnaires, Toronto Mayor Says Housing First Approach Works Feature: Dedicated Plan in Development to End Youth Homelessness in Calgary As the number of teens turning to shelters continues to grow, the Calgary Homeless Foundation is working on a plan dedicated to ending youth homelessness. The comprehensive plan, which would become part of Calgary’s overall 10-year plan to end homelessness, will focus on ways to help youths between the ages of 12 and 24. “We recognize that there are some very specific needs and we want to respond to those needs with a bit more emphasis than our original plan to end homelessness”, Tim Richter, president of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, told the media. He also said the foundation will work with the United Way and local service agencies dealing with homeless youths to develop the plan over the coming months. Richter said the plan will be based on the Foundation’s draft discussion paper on youth homelessness in Calgary. The paper, released in May 2009, called on the Alberta government to develop a “holistic” strategy to specifically address youth homelessness. According to Setting the Course: A Blueprint to End Youth Homelessness in Calgary, 43 per cent of homeless youths have been diagnosed with childhood mental illness, 57 per cent have thought about suicide, 33 per cent have a physical disability and 37 per cent have a learning disability. Furthermore, 94 per cent of street youth use alcohol or drugs, and 45 per cent of girls living on the street have been asked to engage in prostitution. “If effective interventions are not implemented, today’s homeless youth are at risk of becoming tomorrow’s homeless adults,” the paper says. “To end homelessness in Alberta, we must address the primary pathways into youth homelessness, including poverty, family conflict, abuse and addictions as well as re-structured interventions to streamline rapid pathways out of homelessness using a Housing First approach.” Calgary’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness was released in January 2008 by the Calgary Committee to End Homelessness, a community-based, multi-stakeholder, leadership group who selected the Calgary Homeless Foundation to implement the plan. The Foundation is moving forward on implementation in partnership with many homeless serving agencies, the private sector, government partners, the faith community, other foundations and all Calgarians to end homelessness in Calgary “once and for all.” The Second Year Progress Report has been posted. ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬Community Spotlight: Infinity Project Recognized for Outstanding Work with Homeless Youth In this fifth year of Eva’s Initiatives Award for Innovation, three winners were recognized for their outstanding work with homeless youth. One of the three winners for 2010, recognized for their focus on integrated supports for homeless youth, was the Boys and Girls Clubs of Calgary for The Infinity Project. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Calgary Infinity Project is a “Housing First” program for youth who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The project works with youth to help create a permanent home in the community of their choice and then wraps supports around them to help maintain their housing. The Housing First approach provides youth with financial support to help them quickly access permanent housing. Youth are supported in locations across the city through the use of convertible leases. Once housed, support workers connect with the youth to facilitate education, youth engagement, enhance relationships, develop life skills, and promote emotional healing. This use of support workers allows each youth to have an advocate and supportive adult to connect them to community resources, and to give advice. Living arrangements, expectations, and goals are tailored to the individual, and the project recognizes that as youth acquire the skills for more independent living, their service needs may change, but their place of residence does not need to. This project is innovative in that the first goal is to provide youth with financial support as a pre-requisite to securing permanent housing. In this way financial support becomes the foundational pillar that supports the other essential parts of life which together ensure a smooth transition to adulthood. From a secure housing base, youth can have greater success in education, employment, life skills and other goals. The Eva’s Initiatives Award for Innovation is generously sponsored by CIBC. Each winning organization receives a prize of $5,000, presented at an awards ceremony in their community. News Briefs: One in Five Households Struggle with Affordability A new report by the Conference Board of Canada says 20% of Canadian households struggle to afford their homes because of a gap in the supply of affordable housing provided by the private market. This shortage negatively affects Canadians’ health, which, in turn, reduces national productivity and competitiveness. Building From the Ground Up: Enhancing Affordable Housing in Canada makes the case for developers, governments and civil society organizations to work together to expand the supply of quality affordable housing. Australia Establishes Special Day to Draw Attention to Youth Homelessness The unseen face of youth homelessness was highlighted during the Youth Homelessness Matters Day (YHMD) 2010 in Sydney, Australia. Created in partnership with Youth Accommodation Association (YAA) and state and federal governments, April 14 highlighted numerous aspects of youth homelessness. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has made a commitment to halve Australia's homeless rate by 2020. Ontario Girls Ask Queen’s Park to Tackle Youth Homelessness A group of 18 Ontario girls took their mission to Queen’s Park determined to do something about youth homelessness. The group of Grade 8 youth are learning about women in politics in a special program to encourage more young women to go into politics. MHCC Seeks Input Through Housing Questionnaires The Mental Health Commission of Canada has placed a priority on developing a National Housing Strategy and is undertaking a comprehensive national environmental scan to support planning and policy work in housing. The project Turning the Key: Assessing Housing and Related Supports for Persons Living with Mental Health Problems and Illnesses, will inform the Commission on current housing and community support needs for people living with mental health problems. The research team has issued an invitation to various stakeholders to participate in the project through the dissemination and/or completion of one of five questionnaires: Questionnaire for People Living with Mental Health Problems or Mental Illness, Families Questionnaire, Community-based Mental Health Service Providers Questionnaire, Housing Providers Questionnaire, and the Hospitals Questionnaire. Toronto Mayor Says Housing First Approach Works According to the recently released results of the 2009 Street Needs Assessment, street homelessness in Toronto is down by 51 per cent since the inaugural Street Needs Assessment in 2006. Although some housing activists have doubts about the findings, Toronto Mayor David Miller attributes the decrease to the city’s Housing First approach where outreach works approach people sleeping outdoors to offer assistance finding affordable housing. ------------------------------------------------ SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE: The Housing Again e-bulletin is distributed by e-mail free of charge monthly. To subscribe or unsubscribe: http://www.sharedlearnings.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=News.FA_dsp_email Please circulate this e-bulletin to your friends and colleagues. --------------------------------------------------- To see the collection of prior postings to the list, visit the housingagain-l Archives. 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