[homeles_ot-l] Media release - People in Ottawa ready to stand up for Affordable Housing at July 27th
Lynne Browne
lbrowne at ysb.on.ca
Fri Jul 24 13:28:42 EDT 2009
Hi all,
The message below went out today to media from the Ottawa Branch of the
Housing Network of Ontario to let media know HNO Ottawa spokespeople will be
there at 6:00 pm to speak with them before the Affordable Housing
Consultation begins at 6:30 p.m., July 27th at Our Lady of Fatima Church
Hall, 153 Woodroffe Ave. You'll see that ATEH Chair Perry Rowe will be there
and is quoted in the media release.
You are very welcome to circulate these materials widely and, of course, to
make use of the points made in them next Monday.
Lynne Browne
Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH)
147 Besserer St., 2nd Floor, Ottawa, ON K1N 6A7
613-241-7913, ext. 205
www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca <http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca/>
_____
From: Lynne Browne [mailto:lbrowne at ysb.on.ca]
Sent: July 24, 2009 11:48 AM
To: lbrowne at ysb.on.ca
Subject: Media release - People in Ottawa ready to stand up for Affordable
Housing at July 27th
Importance: High
Please find media release with a list of contacts below and attached from
the Ottawa Branch of the Housing Network of Ontario. Also attached is a
Backgrounder for media on affordable housing in Ottawa and Ontario and the
bilingual Declaration.
On behalf of the Ottawa Branch of the Housing Network of Ontario
Lynne Browne
Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH)
147 Besserer St., 2nd Floor, Ottawa, ON K1N 6A7
613-241-7913, ext. 205, <http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca/>
www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca
Media Release for 27th - July 24, 2009
ottawa advocates to minister watson:
"People in Ottawa ready to stand up for Affordable Housing at July 27th
Consultation"
(Ottawa) Local housing and homelessness advocates will be informing Minster
Watson that everyone - young, old, individuals and families - deserves a
home at the provincial government affordable housing consultation July 27th
at Our Lady of Fatima Church Hall, 153 Woodroffe Ave at 6:30pm.
They will take the message to the Minister of Housing that stable housing is
a fundamental precondition of economic stability and good health. They will
ask him to immediately kick-off Ontario's long term strategy with a
significant increase in funding for affordable housing to close the shameful
gap between the community's need for affordable housing and the number of
units being built and they will ask him to quickly put in place measures to
assist tenants who cannot afford Ottawa's rents.
6:00-6:30 p.m., Monday, July 27, 2009, members of Ottawa Branch of the
Housing Network of Ontario will be available to speak with media at the
entrance to 153 Woodroffe Ave before they go into this evening's Ottawa
consultation session with real solutions for people struggling with housing
in Ottawa (list of spokespeople below).
Perry Rowe, Chair of The Alliance to End Homelessness welcomed the
consultation process. "Our members want Minister Watson to keep three
numbers from 2008 in his mind and heart and ask Cabinet for much more money
for affordable housing - 7,045 individuals using homeless shelters, 1,116
households at the point of eviction who were helped to stay housed and avoid
being homeless and 9,692 households on the social housing waiting list,"
says Mr. Rowe. "All of these Ottawa residents have first hand -and
devastating - experience of Ontario's housing crisis. We recommend the
Ontario government do much more than match federal stimulus money and
immediately act on two housing solutions - one, substantially increase the
provincial investment in affordable housing and two, deal effectively with
the rent crisis to help tenants avoid homelessness."
Andrew Aitkens, Director with the Seniors Network of the Centretown Citizens
Community Association, says, "Affordable housing developments create
communities where people know and help each other. They provide a sense of
belonging and security when vulnerable people need the comfort of a
supportive environment in which to grow older and maintain good health."
Vicky Smallman, Advocacy Committee Chairperson with Somerset West Community
Health Centre, says, "The Provincial Government has an opportunity to
demonstrate leadership by working with the Federal Government, the City of
Ottawa and the National Capital Commission (NCC) to invest in the
development of affordable housing in the LeBreton Flats neighbourhood - the
lack of affordable housing is a critical issue for a high number of low
income clients who reside in the Somerset West CHC catchment," says
Smallman. According to Smallman, all levels of government have promised
affordable housing in LeBreton Flats since the 1960's and none has been
built.
In the lead up to the consultation, Ottawa area housing and homelessness
advocates have been working with The Housing Network of Ontario (HNO).
"Ontario has the worst record among Canadian provinces when it comes to
affordable housing investments," says Michael Shapcott of the Wellesley
Institute, co-chair of the HNO. "In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009,
Ontario spent $64 per capita on affordable housing, about half of Canada's
provincial average. To make matters worse, Ontario, more than any other
Canadian province, has downloaded the cost of affordable housing to local
government. The latest Ontario budget contains the latest in a series of
short-term housing initiatives, when what the people of Ottawa - and the
people of Ontario - really need is a province that makes substantial,
long-term investments in a comprehensive affordable housing plan."
Local Ottawa advocates, such as The Alliance to End Homelessness, Somerset
West Community Health Centre, Ottawa Child and Youth Housing Advocacy
Initiative (OCHAI), Seniors Network of the Centretown Citizens Community
Association, Barrhaven Non-Profit Housing, Centretown Community Health
Centre, Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation and People For A Better
Ottawa are members and supporters of The Housing Network of Ontario (HNO),
and have endorsed its housing Declaration. The Ontario network is a group of
advocacy organizations and individuals with lived experience of housing
insecurity who support an integrated and fully-funded affordable housing
strategy. To date, the Housing Network of Ontario Declaration has been
endorsed by over 375 organizations and individuals.
Available at 6:00 pm July 27th for interviews and comments
Ottawa members of the Housing Network of Ontario at the entrance to 153
Woodroffe Ave
Perry Rowe Chair, Alliance to End Homelessness
Phone 613-241-1573, Email: perry_rowe at ottawaboothcentre.org
Jenn Wilks Coordinator, Ottawa Child/Youth Housing Advocacy
Initiative (OCHAI),
the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario
Phone - Office: 613-737-7600 ext. 3477, Cell 613-552-5579, Email
jwilks at cheo.on.ca
Several Ottawa tenants on low incomes
Available on site at 6 pm
Andrew Aitkens Director, Seniors Network of the Centretown Citizens
Community Association
Phone: 613-230-4078, Email: aaitkens at rogers.com
Vicky Smallman Board Member, Somerset West Community Health Centre and
Chairperson of the Advocacy Committee
Phone (613) 722-0445, Email vicky at smallman.ca
AND Co-Chairs of the Housing Network of Ontario by phone/email
for province-wide comments
Michael Shapcott Phone: 416-972-1010 ext 231; Cell: 416-605-8316
Email: michael at wellesleyinstitute.com
Yutaka Dirks Phone/Cell: 416-597-5855 ext.5243; Email:
dirksy at lao.on.ca
-30-
Attached with email -
Backgrounder for media on Ottawa &
Ontario & Bilingual HNO Declaration
FYI
DECLARATION:
We believe everyone in Ontario has the right to live poverty-free and with
dignity in housing that is stable, adequate, equitably accessible and
affordable.
Four priorities
1. The affordability of housing, including measures to increase the supply
of affordable housing and to make existing housing more affordable.
2. The availability of affordable housing that is stable, safe and in a
state of good repair, and which effectively addresses the diversity of needs
in communities across Ontario.
3. Supports, programs and protections that help all Ontarians equitably
access and maintain adequate affordable housing and thrive in their
communities.
4. A clear way to measure progress, with overall and population specific
targets and timelines to ensure that housing insecurity and homelessness are
being meaningfully reduced.
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