[homeles_ot-l] Sign the Repair the ROOF! petition today. "Your Voice Counts. Help Support Families in Poverty."

[Repair the ROOF!]

Dear* *Sir or Madame,



We are a group of nursing students from Ryerson University advocating for
changes to the Rental Opportunity for Ontario Families (ROOF) program.



ROOF is a housing allowance program for low-income working families to help
pay for rent; it provides an allowance of up to $100 per month for a maximum
of 5 years (for general program details visit:
http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page4946.aspx)<http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page4946.aspx>.
It was introduced in 2007 by the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs &
Housing but was made available only to those who met restrictive eligibility
criteria.  No new applicants were accepted after June 2008, shutting out
even more families that could have benefited from the assistance.



Considering the economic context:



   - rise in rent (37% over the past 15 years) and high energy costs
   - low vacancy rates (2.7% in 2008)
   - long wait lists for social housing (124,032 households in 2008)
   - high unemployment rate (8% in January 2009)
   - rising food prices (7.3% in 2008) greater than the rate of inflation
   - more people using food banks (up 13% in fall 2008); 36% of those forced
   to turn to food banks are children, and; 21% decline in the ability of food
   banks to meet the needs of clients
   - etc.,

it is obvious that Ontario's most vulnerable households that are already
living in or around the margins of poverty will experience the greatest
struggle this year and in the unstable future.  With insufficient social
program funding, low-income working families face additional challenges on
top of the current economic crisis.  The threat of increased homelessness
and poor health outcomes is real and action to protect Ontario's families
from this threat is URGENT.  A comprehensive housing allowance program
should be made available to ALL low-income working families in Ontario to
help prevent this deepening spiral into poverty!



We are asking you to join us in calling on Jim Watson (Minister of Municipal
Affairs & Housing) and Dalton McGuinty (Premier of Ontario) to acknowledge
the limitations of ROOF and to make the following changes to the program:



   - An extension of ROOF or a permanent long-term housing allowance program
   - Increase eligibility to adequately serve the housing needs of ALL
   low-income working families and Ontario's most vulnerable
   - Increase the monthly allowance to reflect family size

Please support our efforts by signing the Repair the ROOF! petition at:
www.ipetitions.com/petition/repairtheROOFprogram

If you are interested in receiving a package of our flyers and hard copies
of the petition (flyers are available in English, Amharic, Cantonese,
Korean, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese) for posting or
distribution at your organization, please do not hesitate to contact us at
this email.  Alternatively, we would be more than pleased to present our
petition (electronic and hard copy) for signing by clients in any of
your programs (sorry, we are available only within the Greater Toronto Area
and during February 17th- March 6th, 2009); please contact us to arrange an
appointment.



We are also seeking sponsors (non-monetary) for our online petition.  If you
are interested in sponsoring our online petition, please let us know as
we would gladly post the name and a link to your organization on our
website.  As such, we would appreciate additional support by posting a
link to our online petition (
www.ipetitions.com/petition/repairtheROOFprogram) on your website or
electronic newsletters.  Please help us spread the word!



Thank you in advance for signing our petition.  (We apologize if you receive
multiple copies of this email)


Best Regards,

-- 
Repair the ROOF!

Hartini Abecia
Karen Choe
Chloe Cuevas
Maja Ekmescic
Brenda Huynh
Jericho Lee
Nancy Mubu

Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing
Ryerson University
350 Victoria Street
Toronto, ON
Canada
M5B 2K3
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