Number 85 October 1,
2005
The Housing Again Bulletin, sponsored by Raising the Roof
as a partner
in Housing Again.
A monthly electronic bulletin highlighting what people are doing to
put
housing back on the public agenda in Ontario, across Canada and
around the
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In
this Issue:
Community Profile: Urban
Aboriginal Homelessness Program in Sault Ste. Marie
Feature: Youth and Homelessness
News Briefs: Housing Report
Card Delivers Failing Grade; Ontario to Co-lead Framework Team; World Habitat
Day; Niagara Housing.
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Community
Spotlight:
Addressing
the Unique Needs of Urban Aboriginals
Outreach Worker Betty Lou Kidder believes in capacity
building and partnerships rather than confrontation and focusing on the
negatives of a situation. She doesn’t want to “re-invent the wheel” either so
has helped set up the Urban Aboriginal
Homelessness Program in Sault Ste.
Marie, Ontario with those philosophies in mind.
“Many of our clients have
recently moved from reserves and face very unique needs integrating into the
community,” Kidder told Housing
Again. “The change is like a culture shock to them—they can lose so many
benefits when they move off the reserve and face many barriers to getting
employment and housing.”
The centre’s clients may be
facing racism and discrimination, homelessness or at-risk of being homelessness,
low or fixed incomes, substance abuse issues, mental illness, chronic illness,
history of violence, or struggling with other issues. They may also be
ex-offenders, seniors or new to the area.
The Indian Friendship Centres is the host
agency for the program that opened on December 15, 2004 and had its official
opening ceremony just this past February. Sault Ste. Marie is a community of
80,000 people located at the heart of the Great Lakes on the border of
Michigan.
The program, which has been very
busy since it opened, Kidder said, works very closely with other organizations
building partnerships. They rent space out of Vincent Place (operated by St. Vincent de Paul), providing
co-ordinated services and support to alleviate urban aboriginal homelessness or
near homelessness. The program maintains and enhances community involvement
through partnerships and linkages.
It offers a drop-in centre, free
lunch and programming three afternoons per week. The programs offered include
basic living skills, budgeting, credit counselling, holistic health, nutrition,
spiritual teachings, addiction services, housing issues, as well as client
advocacy and liaison, community agency referrals and development.
“Aboriginal people, whether
second generation reserve or recently moved off their reservation, do not feel
comfortable accessing mainstream services,” said Kidder. “Our programs are
teaching tools that help to address those individual needs, and we will assist
further with advocating and liaison when needed.”
They hope to have a website set
up in the future, but in the meantime, Betty Lou Kidder can be contacted at blkidderuahp@bellnet.ca for more
information.
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Feature:
Youth and
Homelessness
According to Covenant House, on any given night,
approximately 33,000 Canadians are homeless, of which about 8,000 to
11,000—nearly one third—are youth. Most studies show that over 50 per cent of
homeless people are under the age of 25. www.covenanthouse.on.ca/web/facts_and_stats.html
Homeless youth are vulnerable to
physical violence, mental health problems, alcohol and drug abuse, sexual abuse
and conflicts with the law. They are isolated with few resources often suffering
from poor physical health. Although all young people are vulnerable to being
homeless, it is a significant problem for Aboriginal youth, as well as gay and
lesbian youths. And most fear discrimination in adult shelters.
No doubt this information comes as no surprise to most
social justice advocates, who are acutely aware of the importance of reaching
out to young people. Many youth-specific programs are being developed across the
country tailored to meet the needs of homeless youth. And more programs are
involving young people—the younger the better—in outreach and education services
geared to preventing and supporting homeless youth.
Earlier this year, the Mayor’s Youth Task Force, a group of
proactive young people from Markham,
Ontario, and Street Kids International, a Canadian-based non-profit
organization, invited more than 100 high school students to a community forum to
examine youth poverty and homelessness. www.markhamyouth.com
“We hope to motivate Markham students to learn
about the challenges of homeless youth and actively contribute to the quality of
life for all in our community,” said Markham Mayor Don Cousens during the conference.
As a result of the work of the task force, the
young people in Markham have become more acutely aware of their vulnerability;
feel more ownership for creating change in their community; and are more
sensitive to people living on the street and the conditions that lead to
homelessness.
Street Kids is working with many schools
providing youth with the opportunity to learn about, and to take local action on
homelessness and other global issues. www.streetkids.org/
There is a unique project in St. John’s, Newfoundland, that assists
youth who face significant barriers to education and employment. The “Youth at
Promise Challenge” is an initiative of Choices for Youth, a non-profit,
community-based agency which provides housing and lifestyle development support
to youth.
Ayala Reshef, a teacher at Nancy
Campbell Collegiate Institute in London, Ontario, has a group of twenty
elementary children, who have knit winter scarves and hats for people who are
homeless. She hopes their efforts will teach the children about “service to
mankind.”
In Prince George, British Columbia, the
program Prevention in Motion: Using
Education to Address the Root Causes of Homelessness, takes a multi-faceted
approach designed to contribute to a reduction in homelessness by addressing
underlying root causes and effects that make youth vulnerable to homelessness.
www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=009201&tid=077
The John Howard Society of PEI has created a
support team in Charlottetown to
help young people develop a sense of empowerment and self-reliance. Youth who
are homeless—or at risk of becoming homeless—are assisted in various ways to
explore their individual needs. They are informed about the community resources
available to them and given assistance in developing a long-term support
network. www.shawnmurphymp.ca/news/153
The National Anti-Poverty Organization
launched a Youth Poverty Initiative to engage youth in doing research, telling
their stories through theatre, video and interactive web sites, developing
popular education and campaign resources and taking action on youth poverty.
www.napo-onap.ca/en/youth.html
These
are just a few examples of ways advocates are reaching out to youth, not only to
provide assistance once they have become homeless, but to involve them in
creating change.
Other
resources:
Aboriginal Youth
Network
www.turtleisland.org/front/_front.htm
Canadian
Children’s Rights Council www.canadiancrc.com/Homeless_Children_and_Youths_in_Canada.htm
National Research on Youth and
Homelessness
http://www.homelessness.gc.ca/initiative/evaluationreport/youthmodel_e.asp
Toronto Youth Cabinet
www.torontoyouth.com
Canadian Housing
Renewal Association
www.chra-achru.ca
Campaign 2000
www.campaign2000.ca
Canadian Centre
for Policy Alternatives
www.policyalternatives.ca
Raising the Roof
www.raisingtheroof.org/pdf/childwelfare.pdf
NEWS BRIEFS:
Housing Report Card Delivers Failing
Grade
The National Housing and Homelessness
Network released its latest national housing report card during the federal,
provincial, territorial housing ministers’ meeting in Halifax last month. The report
concludes that there has been “too much
political spin and not enough truly affordable housing.” www.tdrc.net
Ontario to Help Lead Team Finalizing
Housing Framework
At the conclusion of the annual
meeting of the federal/provincial/territorial ministers responsible for housing
in Nova Scotia, federal Housing
Minister Joe Fontana announced that
Ontario would co-chair with the
federal government a working team to develop and finalize a housing framework
for the country. He also said the ministers had identified a “wide range of
priorities in their communities, and the need for a flexible, sustainable and
long-term approach to housing.” www.mah.gov.on.ca
World Habitat Day
Monday October 3, 2005 is World
Habitat Day. In 1985, the United Nations
General Assembly designated the first Monday in October each year as “World
Habitat Day” as a time to reflect on the state of human settlements and the
basic right to adequate shelter and to remind the world of its collective
responsibility for the future of the human habitat. This year’s theme is the
“Millennium Development Goals and the City” as a reminder that in 2000 world
leaders committed to launch a concerted attack on poverty, illiteracy, hunger,
unsafe water, disease and urban and environmental degradation.
www.unhabitat.org/whd/2005/default.asp
Housing in Niagara
Niagara Regional Housing is hosting an
affordable housing development forum in St. Catherines on Friday, October 21 in
partnership with Canada Mortgage and
Housing Corporation and the Ministry
of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Organizers hope to inspire partnerships
across various sectors to increase the development of affordable housing. The
agenda includes an overview of existing building incentives and successful
approaches adopted in other regions. The keynote speaker is the Honourable
John Gerretsen, Minister of
Municipal Affairs and Housing. Call 1-800-704-6488 to register. Call
905-682-9201 ext. 317 for more information about the forum or visit www.nrh.ca.
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