[homeles_ot-l] 300 DAYS email countdown - end of federal homelessness funding - please HELP June 4

Mon Jun 2 18:21:02 EDT 2008

Please send your own email (attached) then Circulate this Widely. Across
Canada, people and groups are being encouraged to substitute their local
community’s specifics in place of Ottawa’s (or simply cut that text), and to
alert their media. 

  Countdown!

June 4th 2008

Email Wave Countdown Campaign

300 DAYS to the end of federal homelessness funding!

As of June 4th, the Homeless Partnering Initiative (HPI) ends in 300 days on
March 31st, 2009.  We invite you to participate in the first wave of a
Countdown Campaign asking the Conservative government to make an
announcement NOW. 

*     Copy and paste the attached brief email message with your name, etc.
on June 4th or 5th.

*     Send it to the Prime Minister at HYPERLINK
"mailto:Harper.S at parl.gc.ca"Harper.S at parl.gc.ca and to the Minister
responsible for HPI, Monte Solberg at HYPERLINK
"mailto:Solberg.M at parl.gc.ca"Solberg.M at parl.gc.ca. 

300 days is very little time to prepare and announce a new program, to get
the funding in place, to insure a renewal for projects that are currently
funded and/or to develop new projects.  Communities across Canada
desperately need these funds to help homeless people and those at risk of
homelessness.

In Ottawa from January 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009, federal funding will
provide a total of $ 8,261,000 to 24 organizations. In spite of the current
combination of federal, city and provincial funds, there were 8,915
individuals who stayed in an emergency shelter last year and an additional
9,567 households who were helped to remain housed in 2007. The latest census
found that 12% of the Ottawa population or 95,691 individuals live on low
incomes after tax which puts many of them at risk of becoming homeless.

*     Imagine what the loss of federal dollars will mean to our community’s
ability to end homelessness.  

The Alliance to End Homelessness in Ottawa hopes the Prime Minister will
listen to concerned people in Canada and in the meanwhile we are calling on
the federal government to act to: 

1.      Create a National Housing Strategy that clearly defines direct
federal responsibility for funding affordable housing and supportive and
supported housing.

2.      Put in place long-term and sustained funding to support our
community’s capacity to end homelessness.

3.      Increase significantly the rates of and access to federal income
support programs: Employment Insurance, Canadian Pension Plan, Old Age
Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement.

Other waves of the Countdown Campaign will be organized in the next few
months.

Thank you for you support,

Lynne Browne

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

*     If possible, please send a copy to your local coalition. In Ottawa:
please copy to The Alliance to End Homelessness website email address:
HYPERLINK
"mailto:info at endhomelessnessottawa.ca"info at endhomelessnessottawa.ca 

*     French documents: This Countdown Campaign has been initiated by Réseau
SOLIDARITÉ Itinérance du Québec (RSIQ) in Quebec and by Alliance to End
Homelessness in Ottawa (ATEH). Please see HYPERLINK
"http://www.rapsim.org/site/index.ntd?sortcode=1.27"http://www.rapsim.org/si
te/index.ntd?sortcode=1.27  for the RSIQ documents in French “BLITZ DE FAX
pour la reconduction d'IPLI” or contact Nathalie Rech, coordonnatrice,
Réseau SOLIDARITÉ Itinérance du Québec (RSIQ), email HYPERLINK
"mailto:solidarite-itinerance at hotmail.com"solidarite-itinerance at hotmail.com,
Tél. (514) 861-0202, Fax 1-888-438-9719.

No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG. 
Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.24.4/1478 - Release Date: 02/06/2008
7:12 AM

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.web.net/lists/private/homeles_ot-l/attachments/20080602/0df2f053/attachment-0001.htm 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Countdown 300 days to END of Fed. homelessness funding Mar 31,	09.doc
Type: application/msword
Size: 27648 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://list.web.net/lists/private/homeles_ot-l/attachments/20080602/0df2f053/attachment-0001.doc 