[homeles_ot-l] Improving Health & Housing in Ottawa / Améliorer la santé et le logement à Ottawa

[Emilie Hayes]

Hello everyone,



Somerset West and Centretown Community Health Centres released its joint
report on rooming houses yesterday. This is an update to our 2016 report
<http://swchc.on.ca/sites/default/files/RH-EN.pdf>, and provides additional
information we learned in our 2017 research, and a renewed call to action
to landlords, the City, and the Province.



The report shows that rooming houses are a necessary form of housing, but
that they often fail to meet minimum standards for safety and
maintenance. These
conditions represent a potentially harmful environment for tenants who are
already marginalized.



Additional data collected in our second year of research notes that:

·       82% of tenants have experienced bed bug infestations

·       70% rely on food banks to survive

·       73% report 1-3 mental health disorders

·       Ontario Works recipients spend 72% of their income on rent



The media release is below, and can also be found on the SWCHC
<http://swchc.on.ca/news-events/news/rooming-houses-west-central-ottawa-receive-failing-grade-again-2017>
and CCHC
<https://www.centretownchc.org/rooming-houses-west-central-ottawa-receive-failing-grade-again-2017>
websites. Click here to read the report
<http://swchc.on.ca/sites/default/files/Improving_Health_Housing_in_Ottawa_-_Update_on_Rooming_Houses_in_West-Central_Ottawa_2017.pdf>.
Click here for the French media release
<https://www.centretownchc.org/fr/les-maisons-de-chambres-dans-le-centre-ouest-dottawa-obtiennent-encore-une-mauvaise-note-en-2017>,
and report
<https://www.centretownchc.org/sites/default/files/Am%C3%A9liorer%20la%20sant%C3%A9%20et%20le%20logement%20%C3%A0%20Ottawa%20-%20Le%20point%20sur%20les%20maisons%20de%20chambre%20dans%20le%20centre-ouest%20d%27Ottawa%202017.pdf>.
We were fortunate to get some pickup yesterday from the Ottawa Citizen
<http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/survey-of-rooming-house-tenants-finds-many-scramble-to-pay-rent>
and Le Droit
<https://www.ledroit.com/actualites/maisons-de-chambres-a-ottawa-des-actions-concretes-exigees-ef1d65580172aa0ebeb9e83966f425b5?utm_campaign=ledroit&utm_medium=article_share&utm_source=email>.




CCHC and SWCHC will also be sharing facts and stories through Facebook and
Twitter this week – please share and re-tweet this week to help spread the
word!



All the best,



Emilie





Emilie Hayes

Community Developer

Somerset West Community Health Centre

613-238-8210, ext. 2250

ehayes at swchc.on.ca

www.swchc.on.ca
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