[homeles_ot-l] FW: [housingagain-l] Housing Again Bulletin No. 102 - June 2007

Tue Jun 5 11:38:51 EDT 2007

FYI – for those who are new to the Alliance to End Homelessness listserv,
the Housing Again Bulletin below is 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. It is sponsored by Raising
the Roof as a partner in Housing Again.” 

In this Issue:

            Feature: Gay Homeless Youth More At Risk 

            Community Profile: YM/YWCA of Greater Victoria

            News Briefs: New on Raising the Roof’s Shared Learnings on
Homelessness 

You can subscribe to it at HYPERLINK
"http://www.housingagain.web.net/"http://www.housingagain.web.net/.

Lynne Browne 
Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness 
147 Besserer Street, Ottawa ON  K1N 6A7 
613-241-7913 x 205, lbrowne at ysb.on.ca 
www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca 

   _____  

From: housingagain-l-bounces at list.web.net
[mailto:housingagain-l-bounces at list.web.net] On Behalf Of Richard Barry
Sent: June 5, 2007 10:18 AM
To: housingagain-l at list.web.net
Subject: [housingagain-l] Housing Again Bulletin No. 102 - June 2007

  HOUSING AGAIN • Bulletin

   _____  

Number 102 June 2007

The Housing Again Bulletin, sponsored by Raising the Roof
as a partner in Housing Again.

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 web sites are:

Housing Again
HYPERLINK "http://www.housingagain.web.net/"http://www.housingagain.web.net 

Shared Learnings on Homelessness
HYPERLINK "http://www.sharedlearnings.org/"http://www.sharedlearnings.org 

Raising the Roof
HYPERLINK "http://www.raisingtheroof.org/"http://www.raisingtheroof.org/

If you have any tips for the Bulletin please e-mail:
HYPERLINK "mailto:annemarie.aikins at gmail.com"annemarie.aikins at gmail.com 

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In this Issue:

            Feature: Gay Homeless Youth More At Risk 

            Community Profile: YM/YWCA of Greater Victoria

            News Briefs: New on Raising the Roof’s Shared Learnings on
Homelessness 

-----------------------------------------------
Feature:

Suffering in Silence

Gay Homeless Youth More At Risk 

With the ever-increasing visibility of gay, lesbian, bisexual, 2-Spirited
and transgender people in society, more teens are finding the courage to
come out with their parents at younger ages.  This courageous act, however,
often results in the teens being told to leave home. Of the millions of
homeless youth across North America, gay youth are disproportionately
represented especially within urban centres. Yet they often face barriers to
services, which may, in any case, not adequately be able to meet their
needs. 

According to a new report, HYPERLINK
"http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/HomelessYouth.pdf"An Epidemic of
Homelessness, from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute
and National Coalition for the Homeless in the U.S., of the estimated 1.6
million homeless American youth, between 20 and 40 percent identify as
lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). In addition, research studies
of homeless LGBT youth find that they suffer from greater levels of violence
and trauma, higher rates of HIV infection, have greater mental health needs,
including suicidal thoughts and attempts, and engaged in greater levels of
substance abuse than their straight counterparts in the homeless youth
population.  

The study found that 26 percent of gay teens who came out to their
parents/guardians were told they must leave home. LGBT youth also often
leave home due to physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Homeless LGBT youth
are more likely to use drugs and participate in sex work or survival sex and
seven times more likely to be victims of crime. 

The study also found that LGBT youth report they are often threatened,
belittled and abused at shelters by staff as well as other residents. If an
organization’s core belief is that homosexuality is wrong, the study
concluded, its leaders and volunteers may not respect a client’s sexual
orientation or gender identity and may expose LGBT youth to discriminatory
treatment.

The report features a number of innovative programs that are addressing the
issues facing this population and concludes with a series of policy
recommendations that can help to curb the “epidemic” of LGBT youth
homelessness. 

“While our focus in this publication and in these policy recommendations is
to address LGBT-specific concerns, we believe that homelessness is not an
issue that can be tackled piecemeal,” wrote report author Nicholas Ray.
“Wholesale improvement is needed, and that is what we propose.” 

A HYPERLINK "http://canadajustice.ca/en/ps/rs/rep/2002/rr2002-8.pdf"study in
2001 identified a variety of issues related to gay street-involved youth,
including homelessness and shelter services, which require further study.
York University Professor Stephen Gaetz, who has studied the issue, authored
a report a few years ago called Street Justice, which makes a number of good
HYPERLINK "http://www.jfcy.org/PDFs/GaetzReportFinal.pdf"recommendations. 

The Trans Programmes at the HYPERLINK "http://www.the519.org/"519 Church
Street Community Centre has been actively working with the Toronto shelter
system since 2001, and has developed a reputation as a reliable resource for
shelters undertaking the accessibility process. The centre offers a variety
of anti-poverty and homeless services including a clothing program, health
bus, ID clinic, meal trans program and Sunday drop-in.  

HYPERLINK "http://www.transyouthottawa.ca/youngts.htm"Trans Youth Ottawa
also provides on-line support services. HYPERLINK
"http://transgendercanada.com/blog/index.php"Transgender Canada is another
resource. 

The HYPERLINK "http://www.youthline.ca/index.html"Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Youth
Line is a toll-free Ontario-wide peer-support phone line for lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, transsexual, 2-spirited, queer and questioning young
people. The Youth Line also provides online peer-support through the online
forum and email response.  In June, they will be presenting the 9th Annual
Youth Line Community Youth Awards to recognize outstanding achievements made
by lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer youth, as well as by queer
youth-serving agencies and groups in the province of Ontario. 

One of last year’s winners, Christopher Hayden, who was honoured for his
outstanding contribution to queer youth visibility, told Housing Again that
queer-identified services provide a safe haven for LGBT youth.

“Queer youth need to know they can trust the organization long before they
reach out,” said Hayden. “They want to know they won’t be judged, harassed
or treated like who they are is fundamentally wrong.” 

-------------------------------------------------

Community Spotlight:

2007 Innovation Award Winner

YM/YWCA of Greater Victoria

In this second year of Eva’s Initiatives Award for Innovation, which is
sponsored by CIBC, three winners were recognized for their outstanding and
unique work with homeless youth. Each winning organization received a prize
of $5,000. 

HYPERLINK "http://www.evasinitiatives.com/home.htm"Eva’s Initiatives
received 66 applications from organizations working with homeless youth in
ten provinces and territories. A seven-member panel, knowledgeable about
services for homeless youth across Canada, reviewed all applications and
selected three winners from among the many applicants with impressive and
innovative projects underway in communities across the county. They also
selected another five as finalists, including the YM/YWCA of Greater
Victoria in British Columbia. 

Societal issues facing today’s young people are more challenging than ever
before and the HYPERLINK "http://www.victoriay.com/contact.php"YM-YWCA of
Greater Victoria believes all young people “deserve every opportunity to
explore positive values, acquire social competencies and develop a strong
and positive  identity of themselves.”

They have developed seven programs to support at-risk youth and young
pregnant women. A community counselling program for youth aged 12 – 19
includes individual, family and group counseling, public education and
workshops. They have a supported independent living service which supports
youth aged 16 – 21 to help establish independent living skills. And Pandora
Youth Apartments is transitional housing for youth aged 15 – 19 which
includes eight independent, fully contained bachelor units. 

To assist street involved/entrenched youth aged 12 – 21, a Medical Mobile
Unit distributes food, blankets, condoms and clothing. The program also
participates in the Out of the Rain Night Shelter Coalition. The Bridging
the Gap outreach project focuses on prevention, education and intervention
with youth involved with or at risk of becoming involved with crystal
metamethaphine.

To assist young pregnant women, the MUMREACH program provides preventive
outreach focused on prenatal health. And the Kiwanis House Program offers
quality, self contained housing units for eight single mothers and their
child under 5 with an emphasis on parenting and life skills in the context
of community. 

NEWS BRIEFS:

New on Raising the Roof’s Shared Learnings on Homelessness HYPERLINK
"http://www.sharedlearnings.org/"Web site

The HYPERLINK
"http://www.sharedlearnings.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Dir.dspSearchResults"Ma
vis Road Shelter in Brampton ON is a shelter for homeless men and women with
a 48 bed capacity where residents work toward securing employment and
housing. 

HYPERLINK
"http://www.sharedlearnings.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Prof.dspProfile&profile
sid=616e5e1c-74f4-423b-a44f-b1134689716f"Youth Shelter Interagency Network,
Toronto, ON is a collaboration of youth shelters across Toronto aimed at
raising awareness of the social and health programs available in city youth
shelters. 

Canadian Housing Renewal Association’s 39th Annual Congress held in Calgary
from May 9-12 was its largest in recent history attracting more than 370
delegates.  Keynote speakers included Federal Minister of Human Resources
and Social Development, Monte Solberg; New Zealand Housing Minister Chris
Carter and Thuso Maphala of Housing People of Zimbabweuso.  The HYPERLINK
"http://www.chra-achru.ca/english/view.asp?x=654&id=882"40th Annual CHRA
Congress will be held in Vancouver, April 2008.

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