News

Deputation at Planning and Housing Committee
Budget 2024

Wednesday, Nov 29th - Planning & Housing Committee Budget 

Watch the video here.

Good Morning Chair and Members of Committee,

As you know, the Alliance to End Homelessness represents over 75 agencies working in the housing and homelessness sector in Ottawa. On behalf of our members - we commend you for the biggest increase in the capital budget for affordable housing since 2014. This increase is more than just additional money, it’s a signal that this Council is prioritizing the need to tackle the housing and homelessness crisis.

We’re also encouraged by the introduction of the vacant unit tax this past year as a new source of revenue for affordable housing. This funding is vital to our ongoing efforts to provide long-term affordable housing options for people in our community, and I encourage you to ensure all of it is used for affordable, non-profit housing. 

Deputation at Community Services Committee
Budget 2024

Hear our Executive Director Kaite Burkholder Harris share long-term solutions to Ottawa's housing crisis at the Community Services Committee.

Tuesday, Nov 28th - Community Services Committee - Budget 2024

 Good Morning Chair and Members of the Committee,

Over the course of the past year, as the City faces the full impact of a housing crisis out of control, I want to start by pointing to actions that are working. In June, this Council approved an Integrated Transition to Housing Plan that City staff built with community partners. The result in the short term is an enhanced rent subsidy with greater flexibility, enabling people who have been stuck in homelessness to rapidly move out of the PDC’s. By allocating resources towards flexible subsidies like this, we enable people to secure stable housing.

 

 

Blog Spotlight: Veterans Homelessness on Rememberance Day

Written by: Maj (Retd) Mark MacDonald

On November 11th, this year and every year, millions of Canadians will gather to commemorate the service and sacrifice of Veterans. In Ottawa, home to one of the largest groups of veterans in the country, there will be televised services from the National War Memorial. At these events much will be made, correctly so, of those who have died in service.  There exists however another population who have also freely given of themselves. These are veterans who are physically and emotionally wounded as a result of their service in the wars and peacekeeping operations of recent conflicts. These wounded warriors are often in need of extensive care and this is provided by Veterans Affairs Canada and other agencies. Other veterans, whose care needs are less or who are healthy often find themselves challenged to find housing. This can be caused by family breakdown, addictions or other factors.  There is a growing number of homeless veterans in Canada. It is disturbing to consider the fact that veterans who have served Canada are now slipping into homelessness.

Deputation at the Joint Finance & Planning Committee

November 2nd, 2023 - Lansdowne 2.0 - Presented by our Executive Director Kaite Burkholder Harris:

Dear Chair and members of the Committee,

I’m speaking today on behalf of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa - an organization representing over 75 agencies in Ottawa in the housing and homelessness sector. In the past year, we’ve been encouraged by Council’s focus on affordable housing and homelessness as the key priority issue for this term of Council. 

 

Blog Spotlight: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 

By: Gail Gallagher

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Day has occurred annually on September 30th for the past three years. This day honors Indigenous children who never returned home and the Survivors of residential schools, including their families and communities. 

 

This day culminates with Orange Shirt Day, also on September 30th. The story of Phyllis Webstad is the inspiration behind "Orange Shirt Day" when her favorite orange shirt was taken from her on her first day at residential school when she was six years old.

 

Deputation at the Finance and Corporate Services Committee

Watch our deputation at Finance and Corporate Services Committee.

Presented by our Executive Director Kaite Burkholder Harris:

Dear Chair and members of the Committee,

I’m speaking today on behalf of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa - an organization representing over 75 agencies in Ottawa in the housing and homelessness sector.

This new opportunity for supportive housing at 1245 Kilborn Avenue is an exciting and smart investment. Local supportive housing providers report seeing over 90% success in people staying housed long-term through supportive housing. It is a key step on the road to ending homelessness. 

Request for Proposals: Achieving System Level Change

The Project:

The Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, (Alliance) and the Ottawa Social Housing Network (OSHN) are looking for an experienced consultant or firm to work with us on a new project to be run under the title of “Investing in Collective Impact: Achieving System Level Change Through Collaboration”. Funding has been secured from the Ottawa Community Foundation for the development of a community perspective on the ‘ideal state’ of the pathway(s) from homelessness to housing in Ottawa. The work would include an environmental scan of good practices for coordination, use of system-wide data, as well as recommendations for change, such as roles and responsibilities of system stakeholders, flow patterns, etc. and the development of a framework for policies necessary to create this system.

The collective impact project will support the collaboration of the Alliance and OSHN to map out the ideal state of the housing and homelessness system, and the steps needed to operationalize it. It will show us how the services of our individual member organizations should evolve, and how we can collaborate across the non-profit sector to realize much-needed system-level changes.

 

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.