HOUSING AGAIN • Bulletin

Number 99 March 1, 2007

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
http://www.housingagain.web.net

Shared Learnings on Homelessness
http://www.sharedlearnings.org

Raising the Roof
http://www.raisingtheroof.org/

If you have any tips for the Bulletin please e-mail:
annemarie.aikins@gmail.com or

---------------------------------------------------
In this Issue:

Feature: URGENT: ACTION ON YOUTH HOMELESSNESS CONTINUES

Community Profile: 2007 Innovation Awards Winners Announced

News Briefs: New on Raising the Roof’s Shared Learnings on Homelessness Web site

-----------------------------------------------
Feature:

URGENT: ACTION ON YOUTH HOMELESSNESS CONTINUES

GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS NEEDED TO FOLLOW-UP ON SEPTEMBER 2006
ST. JOHN’S YOUTH HOMELESSNESS CONFERENCE

A) Participate on the Steering Committee of the National Youth Homelessness Network

Over 240 representatives from across Canada participated in the first youth homelessness conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

One of the outcomes of the conference was to create an ongoing steering committee to guide future advocacy, networking and planning. The job of the steering committee is to represent the larger youth-serving community as we work together to advocate for services, programs and policies for homeless and at-risk youth.

Action on youth homelessness can only happen if we continue the momentum from St. John’s. If you have the time, skills and ability to help build the agenda on youth homelessness, we’d like to hear from you. If you would like to be on the 12-person steering committee, we are particularly interested in knowing:

· Why you want to be on the steering committee;

· What you would bring to such an effort;

· What role you think such a steering committee should play.

B) Host the 2008 Canadian Youth Homelessness Conference

The conference in St. John’s was an overwhelming success for many reasons! The organizers did a great job, the host city welcomed the delegates, and the conference was open and accessible to everyone.

You can access the conference report here: www.youthhomelessness.ca.

We are now looking for the community that will build on the success of St. John’s and be the venue for the next gathering.

So spread the word and let us know if your community would be willing to host the next conference expected in 2008. For those communities interested, we will be looking for the following:

· A description of the host organization or coalition, including the kinds of resources it might bring to an organizing effort;

· Other potential for leadership in the community that could be part of the conference organizing effort;

· Staff support that might be available prior to being able to hire dedicated conference staff;

· Fundraising capacity in the local community;

· An estimate of how soon after a decision is made the community could convene a conference;

· An expression of understanding that the next conference be held in the “spirit of the St. John’s conference.”

· A description of the sorts of post-conference action that you would foresee to further the agenda of the youth-serving community.

C) Who to contact about hosting the next conference or joining the steering committee

Please send your correspondence or e-mail to Richard Barry at Raising the Roof, 263 Eglinton Avenue West, Suite 200, Toronto, ON M4R 1B1, or richard@raisingtheroof.org.

In an effort to move forward in the planning, we are asking that you respond no later than March 31, 2007.

Thank you from the St. John’s Youth Homelessness Conference Transition Team.

Sean Gadon – Raising the Roof, Canada

Jill Pitman – Choices for Youth, St. John’s

Sheldon Pollett – Choices for Youth, St. John’s

Barry Reider – The Urban Core Support Network, Canada

April Williams – The Back Door, Calgary

-------------------------------------------------

Community Spotlight:

2007 Innovation Awards Winners Announced

In this second year of Eva’s Initiatives Award for Innovation, three winners are being recognized for their outstanding work with homeless youth.

Eva’s Initiatives received 66 applications from organizations working with homeless youth in ten provinces and territories. A seven-member panel, knowledgeable about services for homeless youth across Canada, reviewed all applications and selected three winners from among the many applicants with impressive and innovative projects underway in communities across the county.

The three winners for 2007, recognized for their models of integrated supports for homeless youth, are:

Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs, for their Kelowna Downtown Youth Centre
Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming Inc., for their Urban Canvas Project
Les Maisons Transitionnelles 03 for their housing and support program for young parents

The Eva’s Initiatives Award for Innovation is generously sponsored by CIBC. Each winning organization receives a prize of $5,000, presented at an awards ceremony in their community.

Saskatoon Urban Art Project

One of this year’s winners of the annual Eva’s Initiatives Award for Innovation, which recognize outstanding work with homeless youth, is Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming Inc. (SCYAP) for their Urban Canvas Project—a commercial arts skills training program for at-risk youth ages 16 to 30. In upcoming issues of Housing Again, the other two winners as well as the runners up will be featured.

Founded in June 2001, SCYAP was created by its president, Darrell B. Lechman, who had worked for years as a personal development coach for Aboriginal youth. Much of his inspiration came from his admiration for the “unbridled talent” of graffiti artists that pushed him to answer his own questions: How can we give these Aboriginal young people, at-risk youth and the underprivileged an opportunity to have equal access to arts training? And how can we take these talented graffiti “vandals” and have them re-channel their talent to positive initiatives and mainstream galleries?

One of SCYAP’s objectives is to create an art and culture-based environment which lays the foundation for personal development, empowerment and direction among youth and provides positive training opportunities aimed at developing a stronger sense of self-esteem and community ownership. Partnering with the other agencies, SYCAP provides youth with a one-window, single access source of information, together with the knowledge and the real-life experiences required to further their exploration of educational and career opportunities.

They also are committed to inspiring youth—to dispel the myth that the larger world is forever closed to them. And they provide a valuable community service by helping to clean up unwanted graffiti. To date, SCYAP has worked with over 1,500 youth.

The Urban Canvas Project consists of practical experience and public art portfolio building through community art projects, skill enhancement workshops, life skills training and post-project employment preparation. The staff says the project has had a “profound and very positive impact on the lives of troubled young people.” Fifty per cent of the youth who have completed the program have found immediate employment while an additional 38 per cent have returned to school.

SCYAP artists will also be front and center at many of the JUNO festivities in Saskatoon at the end of March. A 4”x 15” mural will be created by SCYAP artists, who will be joined at various JUNO events by Canadian musicians invited to participate in this exciting process.

---------------------------------------

NEWS BRIEFS:

New on Raising the Roof’s Shared Learnings on Homelessness Web site

In 2003, Raising the Roof launched an interactive, bilingual Web site called Shared Learnings on Homelessness. With major funding from partners Direct Energy and RBC, Shared Learnings provides a directory listing of services and initiatives for homeless and at-risk individuals as well as resources to assist frontline staff, managers and volunteers working to address the problem of homelessness in their communities. Use this site to find out more about what is happening in cities, towns and rural areas across Canada. Link to others working within the homelessness sector, share your experiences and learn from theirs.

Recent additions to the site include:

Harbour House of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia is a shelter for abused women and children, providing safe accommodation and basic needs.

Operation Go Home based in Ottawa, Ontario reunites runaway and homeless youth with their families ensuring that they are returned to a safe and nurturing environment.

Ndinawe in Winnipeg, Manitoba offers community based programs to marginalized youth, including those involved with or at risk of sexual exploitation.

---------------------------------------------------
SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE:

The Housing Again e-bulletin is distributed by e-mail free of charge
monthly. To subscribe or unsubscribe, log onto the main page at
http://www.housingagain.web.net/You'll see the Bulletin's
subscribe/unsubscribe box at the bottom right hand of the page.

Please circulate this e-bulletin to your friends and colleagues.

[housingagain-l] Housing Again Bulletin No. 99 - March 1, 2007

HOUSING AGAIN • Bulletin

NEWS BRIEFS:

---------------------------------------------------