A broad group of local community organizations including the Alliance to End
Homelessness Ottawa have been advocating for affordable housing throughout the
municipal election and leading up to the 2019 City Budget process.
Join
us at a city-wide rally in support of affordable housing.
When: 9am, Wednesday
February 6, 2019
Where: Marion Dewar
Plaza, City Hall (Laurier entrance)
Why:
Draft 2019 City Budget will be presented at 10am at a City Council
meeting following
Who: You, Your Tenants,
Members, Staff & Board
Please feel free to
circulate the attached poster.
More than 1600
individuals have already signed a petition in support of the following
campaign:
The Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, Centretown Citizens Ottawa
Corporation, City for All Women Initiative, Coalition of Community Health
and Resource Centres of Ottawa, Healthy Transportation Coalition, and Ottawa
ACORN join with community partners to request that Ottawa City Council
commit at least $12 million of City funding in Budget 2019, over and above
federal and provincial grants, to build new affordable housing.
While we feel strongly that $12 million in Budget 2019 is a
meaningful and necessary short-term contribution to addressing the
homelessness and affordable housing crisis in the nation’s capital, we also
call on the City of Ottawa to do the following:
Pass a strong citywide inclusionary zoning by-law that ensures 25% of new development is dedicated to affordable housing and places a special emphasis on deeply affordable housing within 1 km of rapid transit stations;
Ensure that all available government-owned land within 1 km of current & future rapid transit stations is used for non-profit and co-op housing; and
Create a 2019-2022 Term of Council Priority that integrates transit and planning, with clear, affordable housing targets.
To add your signature to the petition, please visit the Healthy Transportation Coalition to let your voice be heard on these issues to City Council.
Join us!
By: Karen Umurerwa, Expert Steering Team Member
Housing and Mental Health in Black Communities
In 2012, my family made the hard decision to move from Rwanda to Canada. The transition from my homeland to Canada was the toughest process I could have gone through. Canada was a land of opportunities, but it was one that was completely foreign to us as we had no friends or family that could ease our integration.
By: Yetunde Amanda Ona
Embracing Identity: The Bonds of the African Diaspora
The following piece was written by Yetunde Amanda Ona who arrived in Canada 6 years ago with her young children as a refugee claimant. She navigated the homelessness system, and is now an Alliance staff member working to create a more effective and dignified housing and homelessness system. These are her reflections on identity and the African Diaspora.
By: Gail Gallagher
National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (Dec. 6th)
On this day, we remember the innocent lives lost and of the murder of 14 young women at Polytechnique Montréal on December 6, 1989. As a result of this tragic event, December 6 was designated as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
In addition, the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence begins on November 25 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) and ends on December 10 with International Human Rights Day. The 16 Days of Activism are an opportunity to come together to speak out and renew our commitment to end gender-based violence.
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