Dear Alliance Members,
In my role as Executive Director of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa I
continue to be struck by the vibrancy of the Alliance’s community of members
and stakeholders. And I am reminded that we are only as strong, as
knowledgeable, and as effective as our capacity for collaboration allows us to
be.
As the membership renewal period is upon us, I want to share with you the
impact your contribution has made to
INFORM – LEARN – INSPIRE a community wide
effort to end homelessness over 2017:
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We convened the largest Community Forum on Ending Homelessness
to date, engaging local leaders on in-depth issues of importance to our
community such as Housing First, Inclusionary Zoning, Housing as a Human Right
and the National Housing Strategy – and so much more!
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The Alliance produced the 12th
Annual Progress Report on Ending Homelessness in Ottawa
measuring impact, gaps, challenges and progress to ensure that as a community
we hold ourselves to account for the goals we have established.
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Our staff, Board, committees, volunteers and members have
supported ongoing collaboration and engagement amongst our partners including
convening the youth collaborative A Way Home Ottawa, advocating to council in support of
Making Voices Count, and engaging on local capacity issues such as with
Refugee613, and Broadening the Base.
Now, more than ever, we need to renew our commitment to working together to
build leadership, innovation and engagement in the sector. With your support,
the Alliance is ushering in an ambitious plan for 2018 that includes:
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Driving results oriented advocacy as we
approach municipal and provincial elections in 2018;
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Informing the mid-point review of the
City’s 10-Year Housing & Homelessness Plan;
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Increasing member engagement through Member
Meetings, building our communications platforms and better equipping members
with advocacy, policy and relevant issue updates;
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Leading systems level change by coordinating Ottawa’s first ever
sector wide Systems Mapping initiative to inform an evidence
based approach to future policy, program and funding related targets, specific
to Ottawa’s housing and homelessness community needs.
We’ve already started working on our 2018 goals:
SAVE THE DATE: Members Meeting – March 6th, 2018 (10am – Noon)
Learn more about the Alliance’s new policy platforms, and play a role in our related advocacy outreach. Information on the roll out of our
Systems Mapping project will also be shared. A
Panel Discussion on the practice implications of
Housing As a Human Right will follow.
A NEW Alliance Website!
Visit our new website we will be developing over the coming months to bring
you more timely and relevant news on the housing and homelessness sector:
We are grateful to all our members for your continued support. Together we can
bring an end to homelessness.
Sincerely,
Kristen Holinsky