Number 87 December 5, 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 world.
Our web sites
are:
Housing Again
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Writer/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/OQM309MI/<http://www.housingagain.web.net>
Shared Learnings on
Homelessness
http://www.sharedlearnings.org%20/
http://www.liaison-itinerance.org/
Raising the Roof
http://www.raisingtheroof.org/
If you have any tips for the Bulletin please e-mail:
annemariea@nrupublishing.com or
mailto:haille6@rogers.com
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In this
Issue:
Community Profile: Old
Brewery Mission in Montreal Helping People in
Need
Feature: Youth
Works Addresses Long-term Solutions to Homelessness
News Briefs: Putting Homelessness on the Election
Campaign Agenda; Campaign 2000 Issues Annual Report Card; Housing Matters to
Most Canadians; Get Your Raising the Roof
Toque
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Community
Spotlight:
Old Brewery Mission in Montreal
Helping People in Need
Almost 100 years ago the founders of the Old Brewery Mission in Montreal felt the need to reach out to
women and children living in poverty and provide a little fresh air respite.
Camp Chapleau, 1,600 acres of trees, lakes and mountains in the beautiful
Laurentians, has been making the connection between women and children at risk
and the future risk of generational poverty leading to homelessness ever since.
Founded in 1889 by Mina Douglas and Mary Adams, the Old Brewery Mission has
evolved considerably since the days when it occupied an abandoned brewery. Today
it offers a network of programs with clean overnight accommodation, nourishing
meals and basic services to those people who are homeless and have nowhere else
to turn.
“It is our mission to provide camping to women, children
and youth at risk, providing intensive education programs which we hope will
help the families we serve to escape the risks associated with poverty,
addiction and domestic violence,” said director Theresa Forster.
“Many of our camp counsellors and directors attended Camp
Chapleau when they were children, and have fond memories of being at a summer
retreat so are passionate about making sure every child returns home with
beautiful memories,” she said.
Camp Chapleau provides sexual abuse
prevention programs, parenting and coping skills training, and teaches about
dating abuse and bullying awareness. They work in close partnership with
community agencies that refer clients. Camp fees are based on family
income.
The Mission is in the process of
developing a continued training and support program called “Kids Who Care,”
which provides mentoring training and support to encourage kids who attend camp
to develop positive community care services and events in their neighbourhoods
and schools.
The camp is only one of the programs offered by the
Mission, which is Quebec’s oldest and largest homeless shelter network. Its
facilities, services and staff have grown threefold over the past fifteen years
and it now services over 5,000 clients per year.
www.oldbrewerymission.ca
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Feature:
Youth
Works Addresses Long-term Solutions to Homelessness
On January 11th, Raising the Roof will be launching its
new Youth Works initiative, which will address the issue of homelessness among
Canada’s youth.
The underlying philosophy behind the
program is that the best way to deal with homelessness is to address it at the
beginning, not treat it at the end.
Youth homelessness has reached
alarming proportions—it is estimated that young people represent up to one third
of Canada’s homeless population.
“This program means that we will cut
off the flow of homeless young people moving into long-term, adult homelessness
in these communities,” said Raising the Roof President Sean Goetz-Gadon. “This is an exciting
opportunity because we are working towards a long-term solution to the crisis.”
Youth Works has chosen to partner
with three agencies in this initiative: Chocies for Youth in St. John’s, The
Back Door in Calgary and Eva’s Phoenix in Toronto. Significant funding will be
provided to these leading community agencies, which provide services for
homeless youth, in particular through educational opportunities combined with
training and employment programmes.
The goal is to recognize and support
cutting-edge programmes that build self-sufficiency, enabling homeless youth to
move from the street and hostels to independent living as contributing members
of society.
In addition to supporting
groundbreaking work that is currently under-funded, Youth Works will provide a
much needed networking and communications structure for community agencies
providing services to homeless youth across the country. Raising the Roof will
work with its community partners to document key findings and formulate best
practices. The goal is not only to improve practices in dealing with youth
homelessness, but ultimately to encourage community partners and corporate
stakeholders to work together to influence public policy in addressing
homelessness among young Canadians.
The goal is to raise $1.2 million in the first phase of
this initiative, with funding provided to agencies over three years.
Direct Energy is the lead sponsor of
Youth Works with a three-year commitment of $330,000. Raising the Roof has also
secured commitments from the Scotiabank, BMO Financial Group and TD Securities and more partners are
being recruited.
Eva’s Phoenix is a transitional
housing and training facility offering innovative education, employment and
mentorship programs to help homeless youth aged 16 to 24 achieve sustainable
employment and housing. www.evasinitiatives.com/e-phoenix.htm
The Back Door is an innovative
program for street youth 17 to 24 in which participants work with community
volunteers to develop step-by step personal contracts to improve their lives,
get off the street and become self-sufficient members of society. www.thebackdoor.ca
Choices for Youth is a community
agency providing supportive housing and related services for homeless youth in
downtown St. John’s. The program includes a shelter for young men (16 to 29) and
a supportive housing programme for 45 youth aged 16 to 21. 709-754-3047
NEWS
BRIEFS:
Putting Homelessness on the Election
Campaign Agenda
The National
Coalition on Housing and Homelessness has put together a series of election
messages for housing partners. www.housingnow.ca The messages include:
- Affordable housing matters to all
of us—without stable, affordable housing, we can’t have safe, liveable
communities.
- Real results matter most—Canada
needs a comprehensive national housing strategy backed by predictable,
long-term funding.
- The money is there to do the
job—surplus funds can preserve and expand Canada’s stock of permanently
affordable housing.
Campaign 2000 Issues Annual Report
Card
Campaign 2000’s annual report card, Decision Time for
Canada: Let’s Make Poverty History,
recommends expanding affordable housing to $2 billion annually to end
adult and family homelessness and enable parents to raise their children in
healthy community environments. The report recommends fully committing federal
housing funds under the framework agreement and Bill C-48. It also suggests that where
provinces and territories will not build housing, the federal government should
proceed unilaterally. www.campaign2000.ca/rc/
Housing Matters to Most
Canadians
According to a POLLARA survey conducted in the lead up
to November 22, National Housing Day, over half of Canadians feel that the high
cost of housing is contributing to more people being homeless. Direct Energy and Raising the Roof sponsored the study.
The vast majority of Canadians—81 per cent—believe the number of homeless people
in Canada can be reduced, while almost two-thirds—63 per cent—of Canadians feel
homelessness has increased over the past three years.
”We are hopeful
that Canadians’ strong opinions on homelessness and their optimism that the
number of homeless people can be reduced will inspire more people to get
involved in the battle to end homelessness in Canada,” said Robert Huggard, President, Canadian
Operations, Direct Energy. “Direct Energy and its employees are proud to have
been supporting Raising the Roof since 2003. Together, we strive to achieve
Raising the Roof's mission of ensuring all Canadians have a place to call home.”
www.directenergy.com
Approximately three quarters of lower income ($25,000 - $50,000
annual household income) working Canadians surveyed stated that the high cost of
housing is contributing to an increase in homelessness. “It is not surprising
that lower income Canadians who struggle to pay the rent or the mortgage would
themselves see the high cost of housing as contributing to an increase in
homelessness,” said Raising the Roof President Sean Goetz-Gadon. “The funding raised
by Raising the Roof and the work of hundreds of agencies across the country is
needed more than ever to help homeless families and individuals find and keep
their homes.”
Fundraising Helps First Native Youth
Centre Begin Development
Metasoft announced that its fundraising
division, Grant Development Services, assisted Urban Native Youth Association in Vancouver in raising $5 million towards
the development of North America’s first and only Native Youth Centre. The
association will consolidate all of its program activities within a $30-million,
65,000 square foot, three-storey building to be located in the Eastside of
Vancouver. Facilities will include a carving studio, gym, library,
theatre, and computer lab, as well as access to childcare. The centre will
house 30 different youth programs and is scheduled for completion in 2008.
www.unya.bc.ca
Get Your Raising the Roof Toque
To mark National Housing Day, Raising the Roof kicked off its ninth
annual Toque Campaign. Between now and the end of February, Canadians will be
able to purchase their Raising the Roof toque at 128 The Home Depot Canada stores across Canada or on-line at www.raisingtheroof.org
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