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.
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.
Participants will hear from:
“In Ottawa, we lose 7 affordable units for every 1 that is built. Stopping the loss of affordable housing is as critical as building more. Housing has become a commodity rather than a basic need, resulting in tenant displacement to make way for higher paying tenants. We saw this with the Herongate evictions. Without adequate tenant protections and proactive acquisition of older rental buildings, the list of people in need of affordable housing will only grow. We have to turn this around, which in part means protecting what we still have.” - Kaite Burkholder Harris , Executive Director
“Starts With Home” is a coalition of people, organizations, businesses and community groups joining together to build public and political support to end homelessness and housing need in Ottawa. The campaign launched with over 100 organizational endorsements, and the list is growing. Notable endorsers include Beckta Restaurant Group, Ottawa Tourism, Ottawa Board of Trade, CHEO, and Ottawa’s Poet Laureate, Albert Dumont, among many others.
Interested individuals and organizations can join the April 20th discussion, read the platform, and register their endorsement of the plan, at www.startswithhome.ca.
For media inquiries and interviews, please contact:
Kaite Burkholder Harris, Executive Director Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa [email protected] 343-552-0202
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