Some renters are in real need of help to face systemic barriers that make finding housing difficult
Ready to Rent B.C. was established when a group of housing and service-related agencies came together to find ways of helping families both find—and keep—their housing. The Victoria-based organization works closely with both service providers and housing providers to support people in finding solutions to their own housing needs. (more…)
Negative connotations surrounding projects can make things difficult, says Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society executive director Jim Spinelli
Jim Spinelli doesn’t like the term ‘low-barrier housing,’ despite his 17-year involvement with finding affordable housing for local residents.
In his work with the Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society it’s sometimes a struggle to get public acceptance for the housing projects he has been involved with. Part of the problem, he said, is the negative connotation of such terminology.
No rental housing will refuse people on the basis of their drug or alcohol use, so the term is somewhat misleading, said Spinelli. Read the rest of this story at Nanaimo Daily News…
A new supportive housing project on Uplands Drive is underway and received a sunny kickoff from officials on site Wednesday.
By fall 2014, 6025 Uplands Dr. will be home to a 33-unit housing facility for people 45 and up who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Read the rest of this article at Nanaimo Daily News.
The Edmonton Homelessness Commission reports that a chronically homeless person costs taxpayers $100,000 annually — but one night’s accommodation in an emergency shelter costs only $42
Some of Canada’s homeless people are being described as “frequent flyers”–people frequently picked up by emergency services and taken to hospitals or police stations, often multiple times–and the costs associated can be staggering.
The Edmonton Homeless Commission reports that a chronically homeless person costs taxpayers $100,000 annually. 1 in 5 visits by EMS/Fire was to a homeless person–and a homeless person is forty times more likely to use an emergency room in severe weather than the general population. The average length of stay in hospital if homeless is 66 days (compared to the general population average of 9.4 days). The top ten ‘frequent flyers’ to emergency rooms averaged 66 times per year. From February 2013… (more…)
Lawyers for homeless and inadequately housed Ontarians have appeared in Ontario Superior Court of Justice to argue against a government motion to strike their landmark legal challenge
In the spring of 2010, several individuals and the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation filed a landmark legal challenge at the Ontario Superior Court. The ‘Right to Housing challenge’ argues that the governments of Canada and Ontario are in violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for their failure to address, and their contribution to, the growing crisis of homelessness and inadequate housing. (more…)
