[homeles_ot-l] Members / Partners Update - Alliance to End Homelessness - Feb 2, 2017
Mike Bulthuis
mike at endhomelessnessottawa.ca
Thu Feb 2 13:19:42 EST 2017
*Members / Partners Update – February 2, 2017*
*The Alliance has seen a busy start to 2017! I wanted to take a few minutes
to share some of our work – aiming to make Thursday updates a little more
frequent (every few weeks) as we move forward. In this update, some info
on:*
- Canada’s National Housing Strategy
- City of Ottawa 2017 Municipal Budget
- Inclusionary Zoning – coming to Ottawa?
- Developments in the Province of Ontario
- A Way Home Ottawa
- Rooming House Report (from Somerset West and Centretown Community
Health Centres)
- Are you following the Alliance on social media?
- 2016 Community Activist Award granted to the Alliance
- In the News
- New Reports / Publications
- Not a Member?
*Canada’s National Housing Strategy:* Anticipation continues to build as we
look forward to an expected federal government announcement of a National
Housing Strategy – within the next number of months. Reports earlier this
month suggested that a new housing benefit could be a core element to the
strategy
<https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/01/12/federal-government-looks-at-creating-new-housing-benefit-for-low-income-renters.html>.
It’s important to note, however, that until the strategy’s components (with
the financial resources to support them) are announced, we need to maintain
a loud voice! Towards this end, three national housing and homelessness
organizations (the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, the Co-operative
Housing Federation of Canada, and the Canadian Housing and Renewal
Association) are jointly calling on the federal government to commit to
long-term investment on the scale needed to tackle the housing crisis – and
to make Budget 2017 the Housing Budget
<http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/organizations-call-for-budget-2017-to-be-the-housing-budget-611954215.html>.
This is a real opportunity; we need to keep the pressure on – writing to
our elected officials, and urging the necessary investment.
Wondering how to talk to your neighbours about the need for a National
Housing Plan? Here’s a top-ten list
<http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/rachel-gray/national-housing-strategy_b_14498338.html>
– with reasons offered by Rachel Gray, Executive Director of The Stop
Community Food Centre, in Toronto. You can also find this recent Op-Ed by
Roy Romanow and Alex Himmelfarb, printed in the *Globe and Mail*,
articulating that We Can End Homelessness in Canada.
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/we-can-end-homelessness-in-canada/article33632029/>
*City of Ottawa 2017 Municipal Budget:* City Council passed its 2017 Budget
in December. The Alliance presented to Council’s Community and Protective
Services Committee on December 8, offering support for the new $2.7m
EquiPass (transit pass for people living below the low-income cut off), the
$500,000 emergency fund for social services agencies, and the $110,000
contribution for cost-of-living increases - all important measures helping
us get ahead. However, we also emphasized that $4m of municipal funding for
the development of new affordable housing, removed in the 2015 budget, has
still not been re-introduced. Several Councillors offered clear statements
of support for our position, and our work. We will continue to encourage
Council to enhance contributions - in advance of the 2018 budget and
municipal election cycle.
*Inclusionary Zoning – coming to Ottawa?* Since December, attention to
inclusionary zoning has increased – arising from the Province passing
the *Promoting
Affordable Housing Act, 2016*
<https://news.ontario.ca/mho/en/2016/12/ontario-passes-legislation-to-create-more-affordable-housing-for-families.html>
in December - which, among other elements, gives municipalities the option
to implement inclusionary zoning. In recent weeks, myself and
representatives of the Alliance have met with City Councilors, Planning
Department officials and member agencies, towards encouraging the
development and implementation of a local policy framework. Here in Ottawa,
key themes that have emerged in discussions we’ve hosted to-date are that
pursuit of an effective and viable IZ policy will require a
partnership-driven approach. To that end, the Alliance will continue to
seek ways to bring sectors together to ensure that our City pursues this
opportunity – a new tool in our community’s affordable housing toolbox.
*Developments at the Province of Ontario:* A few recent highlights on the
provincial front include:
- *Pre-Budget Consultation:* On January 10, on behalf of the Alliance,
Mike participated in a pre-budget consultation hosted by Finance Minister
Sousa (and attended by numerous local MPPs), where we highlighted (a) data
from our most recent Progress Report, in particular a rise in family
homelessness; (b) the need for school-based prevention efforts and housing
options for youth (recommendations from A Way Home Ottawa); (c) continued
attention to the need for reform (enhancements) of social assistance; and
(d) attention to chronic homelessness that must be accompanied by attention
to other priority populations, as well.
- *New MPP and Parliamentary Assistant, Nathalie DesRosiers*: Following
the November 2016 by-election, new Ottawa-Vanier MPP Nathalie DesRosiers
was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Housing
<https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2016/12/new-mpp-to-focus-on-housing-and-womens-issues.html>.
We have spoken several times with Ms DesRosiers, sharing information on
local housing and homelessness. The MPP has offered to be a strong advocate
for housing solutions.
- *Rural Poverty*: In December, 2016, MP Ted McMeekin was appointed
Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier, with a specific responsibility
for studying and articulating recommendations to reduce rural poverty in
Ontario
<https://www.ontario.ca/page/2016-mandate-letter-parliamentary-assistant-premier>.
The Alliance is working to ensure opportunity for member and partner
agencies in our region to inform this work.
*A Way Home Ottawa:* A Way Home Ottawa has kicked off the New Year with
exciting things coming up! The initiative is laying the groundwork to
initiate a school-based prevention tool called The Upstream Project, and
its Housing Working Group is working to re-imagine how additional housing
options can be made available for youth. As we seek to gain better insight
into the challenges that particular communities face in accessing housing,
the project’s research team is embarking on more in-depth interviews with
LGBTQ ++ youth, newcomer, and Indigenous youth - hoping to hire members
from these communities to help us engage more effectively with young people
as well. And earlier this month, members of the Youth Liaison Team began
“Housing as a Human Right” training -- laying the groundwork for training
other young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
*Rooming House report:* For those who may have missed it, Somerset West
Community Health Centre and Centretown Community Health Centre released
“Health and Housing in West-Central Ottawa: The Facts on Rooming Houses” on
November 29. The report emphasizes the importance of rooming houses as
affordable housing options – but highlights the poor conditions within
many, giving rise to significant health and safety concerns. The full
report is available here (in English)
<http://www.swchc.on.ca/sites/default/files/RH-EN.pdf> and here (in French)
<http://www.swchc.on.ca/sites/default/files/RH-FR.pdf>. You can hear Simone
Thibeault (ED, Centretown CHC) and Joanna Binch (Nurse Practitioner,
Somerset West CHC) discuss the report and the situation in an interview on
CBC Ottawa Morning here
<http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/rooming-houses-report-ottawa-immediate-action-1.3873351>
.
*Are you following the Alliance on social media?* With over 2000 followers
on Twitter <https://twitter.com/ATEH_OTT>, over 1000 followers on Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/endhomelessnessottawa>, and a new Alliance
Instagram feed <https://www.instagram.com/ottawaalliance/>, social media
channels are effective ways to stay in the know on what’s happening at the
Alliance - and within the community at-large, as we collectively work
towards our vision of a city where everyone has an affordable and
appropriate home. One of our more popular tweets in late 2016 – retweeted
35 times – drew readers to a local CBC news report, highlighting what we
and local partners will be looking for in a National Housing Strategy
<http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/national-housing-strategy-ottawa-local-1.3860615>.
The story raised attention to the “What We Heard”
<https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/corp/nero/nere/2016/2016-11-22-1115.cfm>
report released by federal government later that day, identifying what was
heard in national consultations.
*2016 Community Activist Award granted to the Alliance:* On November 26, at
the 2016 Labour Appreciation Awards Dinner, hosted by the Ottawa and
District Labour Council, Workers’ Health and Safety Centre and Labour
Community Services, the Alliance was kindly granted the 2016 Community
Activist Award. Many thanks!
*In the News:*
- In January, a story on CTV National New
<http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/formerly-homeless-man-finds-hope-treatment-through-housing-program-1.3254076>s
profiled the work of CMHA Ottawa’s housing program, sharing the story of a
client who has recently become housed.
- Earlier in January, CBC’s Fifth Estate provided a snapshot of the Oaks
<http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/managed-alcohol-programs-canada-australia-1.3921655>,
with its Managed Alcohol Program, delivered by Shepherds of Good Hope and
Ottawa Inner City Health.
*New Reports / Publications:*
- The federal government’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy
released Highlights
– 2016 Coordinated Point-in-Time Count of Homelessness in Canadian
Communities
<https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/communities/homelessness/reports/highlights-2016-point-in-time-count.html>
- Numerous Ottawa experts have contributed to a new collection, edited
by John Sylvestre, Geoffrey Nelson, and Tim Aubry, entitled: *Housing,
Citizenship, and Communities for People with Serious Mental Illness:
<https://global.oup.com/academic/product/housing-citizenship-and-communities-for-people-with-serious-mental-illness-9780190265601?cc=ca&lang=en&>
Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy Perspectives*. Contributors
include: Tim Aubry, Lorraine Bentley, Rebecca Cherner, John Ecker, Jonathan
Jetté, Nick Kerman, Jennifer Rae, and Stephanie Yamin.
*Not a Member?* The Alliance is a non-partisan, non-profit organization,
working in partnership to inspire action, to generate knowledge and to
inform a community-wide effort to achieve an end to homelessness in Ottawa.
Our vision is of a community where everyone has an affordable and an
appropriate home - and we'd love to work with you to make this real.
If you or your agency / business are not a member of the Alliance, and
share our vision, we invite you to join us by becoming a member or
sponsor. We'd love to hear from you.
'Til next time!
--
*Mike Bulthuis*
Executive Director
*Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa*
171 George Street, Ottawa ON K1N 5W5
Office: 613-241-1573 x 314
Mobile: 613-222-9831
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