Blog

Ending Homelessness Starts With Non-Profit Housing

By: Sophia Kelly-Langer

Take a moment to picture a person experiencing a housing crisis. What does it look like? For some, it looks like sitting out in the cold, hoping that the shelter is not full, so they can actually get in that night. For others, it looks like a family struggling to make the rent after a lay-off. It may look like a senior on a fixed income unable to downsize in their neighbourhood because there are no affordable options.

 

In the most extreme cases, a housing crisis looks like people living in encampments, some directly in front of Parliament Hill. These have become the only shelter options for some, including children and youth under bridges. The jarring contrast of the most vulnerable going without the basic need of housing just feet away from our country’s decision-makers is not lost on the people living in an encampment.

Deputation to the Community Services Committee February 28 2023

Watch the deputation here.

I want to start today with a reminder that homelessness is a solvable issue. We have seen communities across the country and the world reduce homelessness. Waterloo Region has almost eliminated chronic family homelessness, Edmonton, Alberta has reduced homelessness by 43%, London, Ontario has ended chronic veterans homelessness. And of course, the most significant example - Finland has virtually eliminated homelessness and core housing need. 

Increase Investment in Non-Profit Housing: Deputation to the Planning & Housing Committee, February 15th 2023

Watch the deputation here.

The fallout from the housing crisis means that as a city, we spend $30 million on emergency shelter costs every year. People experiencing homelessness engaging with police costs roughly $25M every year in Ottawa. We spend over $15 million a year on keeping people in hotels, because there is not enough affordable housing. Ending the housing crisis in our city means that we invest at least as much in solutions, as we do managing the crisis.

In order to make our city affordable, the smartest capital investment we can make is in non-profit housing.

Submission to Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy re: Bill 23

Bill 23 - More Homes, Built Faster -

threatens the possibility of a future without homelessness.

 

Projet de loi 23 - visant à accélérer la construction de plus de logements -

 menace la possibilité d'un avenir sans sans-abri

Inclusionary Zoning: Deputation to the Joint Planning and Community & Protective Services Committee June 2022

Inclusionary zoning is a powerful tool at the City’s disposal to create more affordable housing. A strong inclusionary zoning policy would ensure that new builds have permanent affordable units, based on a household’s income. In order to have an impact on the housing and homelessness crisis in Ottawa, a strong Inclusionary Zoning policy would ensure a baseline of 20% to an eventual target of 30% of new units would be affordable to households with modest income, and that a portion of these units reserved for households making under $24,000 per year. 

 

Strengthen Tenant Protections: Deputation to Joint Planning and Community & Protective Services Committee

I want to start by saying that we can end homelessness. It’s a systems issue, and it needs systems-level solutions. Maintaining the crisis is expensive, and solving it is the economical solution. 

RE: 'Out of control' — Hintonburg beset with sudden homeless crowd, May 7th 2022 (Ottawa Citizen)

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

In his out-of-control article on respite centres, Kelly Egan writes about “homeless souls” and the residents forced to act “as watchful social workers over the city’s most troubled people”. Drug paraphernalia of unknown origin was the sole corresponding photography with this article, and more concerning, crime trends were cited without the slightest effort to prove a correlation to the residents of the Tom Brown Arena.

Starts With Home Talks - Stop the Loss of Affordable Housing in Ottawa

PRESS RELEASE

OTTAWA, ON April 19th 2022 The University of Ottawa’s Centre for Research on Education and Community Services and the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa will host a virtual discussion on Wednesday, April 20th, at 7PM, to explore how Ottawa can and must stop the loss of affordable housing units in the city. This is the second event of the “Starts With Home” campaign, exploring one of its three key messages. 

100 Organizations Endorse New Campaign to Vote for Affordable Housing in Ottawa Election

PRESS RELEASE

OTTAWA, ON - Two years following Ottawa’s declaration as the first Canadian city to have a housing and homelessness emergency, the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa has launched the “Starts With Home” campaign. The non-partisan campaign aims to rally residents together to support affordable housing with their vote in October’s municipal election.

Alliance Statement on Occupation

The last week has been unlike any other in Ottawa. We are living in a city under siege, by a group of people who have shown deep disrespect for the people living here in serious and increasingly violent ways. 

The Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa represents 70 organizations in Ottawa that support people who experience homelessness. Alliance member organizations have released statements expressing the serious impact that this occupation has had on their communities, staff, and the people they support. Today, we call for an immediate and peaceful end to the occupation.

Invest in Non-Profit Housing: Deputation to City of Ottawa Planning Committee

In the past year, Ottawa’s housing prices have increased by 25-30%. Housing has become an investment, a commodity to build wealth. We have a housing market that incentivizes speculation, leading more and more people who rent vulnerable to losing their homes. Housing is not being treated as a basic human right, nor a fundamental tool to build a vibrant city. The people who work here are increasingly unable to live here.

With Prevention and Permanent Solutions, We Can End Homelessness

I want to start this with one critical number - zero. That’s the number of chronically homeless families in Waterloo’s shelters right now. London, Ontario recently reached zero chronic veterans homelessness. Medicine Hat has reached zero for overall chronic homelessness. Ending homelessness is not a pipe dream. It’s happening in communities across the country, and it’s happening now. But it requires a change in approach.