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News

The Housing Again Bulletin, sponsored by Raising the Roof as a partner in Housing Again.

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A monthly electronic bulletin highlighting what people are doing to put housing back on the public agenda across Canada and around the world, sponsored by Raising the Roof as part of the Housing Again partnership.


News for December, 2005


Old Brewery Mission in Montreal Helping People in Need

Montreal

Almost 100 years ago the founders of the Old Brewery Mission in Montreal felt the need to reach out to women and children living in poverty and provide a little fresh air respite. Camp Chapleau, 1,600 acres of trees, lakes and mountains in the beautiful Laurentians, has been making the connection between women and children at risk and the future risk of generational poverty leading to homelessness ever since.

Founded in 1889 by Mina Douglas and Mary Adams, the Old Brewery Mission has evolved considerably since the days when it occupied an abandoned brewery. Today it offers a network of programs with clean overnight accommodation, nourishing meals and basic services to those people who are homeless and have nowhere else to turn.

“It is our mission to provide camping to women, children and youth at risk, providing intensive education programs which we hope will help the families we serve to escape the risks associated with poverty, addiction and domestic violence,” said director Theresa Forster.

“Many of our camp counsellors and directors attended Camp Chapleau when they were children, and have fond memories of being at a summer retreat so are passionate about making sure every child returns home with beautiful memories,” she said.

Camp Chapleau provides sexual abuse prevention programs, parenting and coping skills training, and teaches about dating abuse and bullying awareness. They work in close partnership with community agencies that refer clients. Camp fees are based on family income.

The Mission is in the process of developing a continued training and support program called “Kids Who Care,” which provides mentoring training and support to encourage kids who attend camp to develop positive community care services and events in their neighbourhoods and schools.

The camp is only one of the programs offered by the Mission, which is Quebec’s oldest and largest homeless shelter network. Its facilities, services and staff have grown threefold over the past fifteen years and it now services over 5,000 clients per year.

www.oldbrewerymission.ca

Youth Works Addresses Long Term Solutions to Homelessness

Canada

Community Spotlight:

Old Brewery Mission in Montreal Helping People in Need

Almost 100 years ago the founders of the Old Brewery Mission in Montreal felt the need to reach out to women and children living in poverty and provide a little fresh air respite. Camp Chapleau, 1,600 acres of trees, lakes and mountains in the beautiful Laurentians, has been making the connection between women and children at risk and the future risk of generational poverty leading to homelessness ever since.

Founded in 1889 by Mina Douglas and Mary Adams, the Old Brewery Mission has evolved considerably since the days when it occupied an abandoned brewery. Today it offers a network of programs with clean overnight accommodation, nourishing meals and basic services to those people who are homeless and have nowhere else to turn.

“It is our mission to provide camping to women, children and youth at risk, providing intensive education programs which we hope will help the families we serve to escape the risks associated with poverty, addiction and domestic violence,” said director Theresa Forster.

“Many of our camp counsellors and directors attended Camp Chapleau when they were children, and have fond memories of being at a summer retreat so are passionate about making sure every child returns home with beautiful memories,” she said.

Camp Chapleau provides sexual abuse prevention programs, parenting and coping skills training, and teaches about dating abuse and bullying awareness. They work in close partnership with community agencies that refer clients. Camp fees are based on family income.

The Mission is in the process of developing a continued training and support program called “Kids Who Care,” which provides mentoring training and support to encourage kids who attend camp to develop positive community care services and events in their neighbourhoods and schools.

The camp is only one of the programs offered by the Mission, which is Quebec’s oldest and largest homeless shelter network. Its facilities, services and staff have grown threefold over the past fifteen years and it now services over 5,000 clients per year.

www.oldbrewerymission.ca
-------------------------------------------------
Feature:
Youth Works Addresses Long-term Solutions to Homelessness

On January 11th, Raising the Roof will be launching its new Youth Works initiative, which will address the issue of homelessness among Canada’s youth.

The underlying philosophy behind the program is that the best way to deal with homelessness is to address it at the beginning, not treat it at the end.

Youth homelessness has reached alarming proportions—it is estimated that young people represent up to one third of Canada’s homeless population.

“This program means that we will cut off the flow of homeless young people moving into long-term, adult homelessness in these communities,” said Raising the Roof President Sean Goetz-Gadon. “This is an exciting opportunity because we are working towards a long-term solution to the crisis.”

Youth Works has chosen to partner with three agencies in this initiative: Chocies for Youth in St. John’s, The Back Door in Calgary and Eva’s Phoenix in Toronto. Significant funding will be provided to these leading community agencies, which provide services for homeless youth, in particular through educational opportunities combined with training and employment programmes.

The goal is to recognize and support cutting-edge programmes that build self-sufficiency, enabling homeless youth to move from the street and hostels to independent living as contributing members of society.

In addition to supporting groundbreaking work that is currently under-funded, Youth Works will provide a much needed networking and communications structure for community agencies providing services to homeless youth across the country. Raising the Roof will work with its community partners to document key findings and formulate best practices. The goal is not only to improve practices in dealing with youth homelessness, but ultimately to encourage community partners and corporate stakeholders to work together to influence public policy in addressing homelessness among young Canadians.

The goal is to raise $1.2 million in the first phase of this initiative, with funding provided to agencies over three years.

Direct Energy is the lead sponsor of Youth Works with a three-year commitment of $330,000. Raising the Roof has also secured commitments from the Scotiabank, BMO Financial Group and TD Securities and more partners are being recruited.

Eva’s Phoenix is a transitional housing and training facility offering innovative education, employment and mentorship programs to help homeless youth aged 16 to 24 achieve sustainable employment and housing. www.evasinitiatives.com/e-phoenix.htm

The Back Door is an innovative program for street youth 17 to 24 in which participants work with community volunteers to develop step-by step personal contracts to improve their lives, get off the street and become self-sufficient members of society. www.thebackdoor.ca

Choices for Youth is a community agency providing supportive housing and related services for homeless youth in downtown St. John’s. The program includes a shelter for young men (16 to 29) and a supportive housing programme for 45 youth aged 16 to 21. 709-754-3047

Putting Homelessness on the Election Campaign Agenda

Canada

The National Coalition on Housing and Homelessness has put together a series of election messages for housing partners. www.housingnow.ca The messages include:

·Affordable housing matters to all of us—without stable, affordable housing, we can’t have safe, liveable communities.
·Real results matter most—Canada needs a comprehensive national housing strategy backed by predictable, long-term funding.
·The money is there to do the job—surplus funds can preserve and expand Canada’s stock of permanently affordable housing.

Campaign 2000 Issues Annual Report Card

Canada

Campaign 2000’s annual report card, Decision Time for Canada: Let’s Make Poverty History, recommends expanding affordable housing to $2 billion annually to end adult and family homelessness and enable parents to raise their children in healthy community environments. The report recommends fully committing federal housing funds under the framework agreement and Bill C-48. It also suggests that where provinces and territories will not build housing, the federal government should proceed unilaterally. www.campaign2000.ca/rc/

Housing Matters to Most Canadians

Canada

According to a POLLARA survey conducted in the lead up to November 22, National Housing Day, over half of Canadians feel that the high cost of housing is contributing to more people being homeless. Direct Energy and Raising the Roof sponsored the study. The vast majority of Canadians—81 per cent—believe the number of homeless people in Canada can be reduced, while almost two-thirds—63 per cent—of Canadians feel homelessness has increased over the past three years.

”We are hopeful that Canadians’ strong opinions on homelessness and their optimism that the number of homeless people can be reduced will inspire more people to get involved in the battle to end homelessness in Canada,” said Robert Huggard, President, Canadian Operations, Direct Energy. “Direct Energy and its employees are proud to have been supporting Raising the Roof since 2003. Together, we strive to achieve Raising the Roof's mission of ensuring all Canadians have a place to call home.” www.directenergy.com

Approximately three quarters of lower income ($25,000 - $50,000 annual household income) working Canadians surveyed stated that the high cost of housing is contributing to an increase in homelessness. “It is not surprising that lower income Canadians who struggle to pay the rent or the mortgage would themselves see the high cost of housing as contributing to an increase in homelessness,” said Raising the Roof President Sean Goetz-Gadon. “The funding raised by Raising the Roof and the work of hundreds of agencies across the country is needed more than ever to help homeless families and individuals find and keep their homes.”

Fundraising Helps First Native Youth Centre Begin Development

Vancouver

Metasoft announced that its fundraising division, Grant Development Services, assisted Urban Native Youth Association in Vancouver in raising $5 million towards the development of North America’s first and only Native Youth Centre. The association will consolidate all of its program activities within a $30-million, 65,000 square foot, three-storey building to be located in the Eastside of Vancouver. Facilities will include a carving studio, gym, library, theatre, and computer lab, as well as access to childcare. The centre will house 30 different youth programs and is scheduled for completion in 2008. www.unya.bc.ca

Get Your Raising the Roof Toque

Canada

To mark National Housing Day, Raising the Roof kicked off its ninth annual Toque Campaign. Between now and the end of February, Canadians will be able to purchase their Raising the Roof toque at 128 The Home Depot Canada stores across Canada or on-line at www.raisingtheroof.org.

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