Ottawa has an affordable housing crisis. We need your help in addressing this crisis. By supporting MHI, you are showing your commitment to helping provide more affordable housing in Ottawa. The larger the support base, the more influence MHI can have.
The annual Membership Fee is $100 for organizations, - we welcome donations greater than this. These fees assist with MHI's operations. Individuals can contribute any amount they wish in order to help address the affordable housing crisi in our city. An income tax receipt will be issued for donations over $15.00.
Established in April 2003, the MHI Members Forum is the venue for members and others interested in affordable housing to meet, learn about affordable housing issues and share information about their activities. It also provides an opportunity for members of the MHI Board of Directors to give updates to the members on Kent House, Somerset Gardens and other board activities. Each meeting has a particular focus that is of interest to members.
MHI no longer holds Member's Forums. In their place MHI has been going to individual faith communities and speaking about the affordable housing crisis in our city and ways in which individuals and groups can get involved and help address the problem. If you are interested in scheduling a member of the MHI speakers team for your congregation please contact our office at 613-686-1825 or by email at mhi.office.mgmt@gmail.com
In March 2008, the Forum heard an interesting presentation by Catherine Boucher and Dennis Carr on the plans of Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation, CCOC, to build affordable housing units on the former Beaver Barrack's site in downtown Ottawa. They began by telling the members about CCOC, which is a community-based, member and tenant directed, non-profit housing organization. CCOC owns 48 buildings in central Ottawa, and their current major project is the development of Beaver Barracks, located immediately east of the Metro Central Y, bounded by Argyle, Metcalfe and Catherine Streets. The site was used for temporary wartime offices and accommodation and was traded to Ottawa-Carleton Regional Government in the late 1980s and earmarked for social housing. The development of the site will proceed in two phases. The first phase is the building of an eight-storey and a four-storey apartment building and internal stacked townhome units. If funding is available, in the second phase, 68 units will be built. Although this is high density, there will be space for community gardens and play areas. More details can be found on CCOC's website at www.ccochousing.org
In January 2008, Fran Klodawsky, President of MHI and one of the co-principle investigators of the Panel Study of Homelessness (PSH) gave an overview of the study and what has been learned so far. The PSH emerged out of a history of collaboration between university researchers, the City of Ottawa and the Alliance to End Homelessness in Ottawa, a community-based organization established in mid 1990s to address the increasing problem of homelessness in the Ottawa area. The Panel Study's objective was to examine pathways into and out of homelessness over time, by following a group of people in Ottawa who were homeless at the beginning of the study. An ultimate goal was to identify and explain factors that distinguished those who successfully exited homelessness from those who remained homeless or experienced multiple episodes of homelessness. Fran's presentation was followed by updates on current MHI initiatives including: occupancy of MHI units in Somerset Gardens, current and proposed fund raising activities, the CMHC web cast on MHI, and communication work funded by Emmanuel United Church.
In September 2007, the main speaker was Peter Nicoll, hired by the MHI Board under contract to design and lead a major fund raising initiative. The goal is to put MHI on a firmer foundation with respect to personnel and finances by raising $500,000 - $1 million dollars over a five year period. The plan has three elements: identify foundations/corporations and then apply to them for funds; identify major individual donors and seek support from them; and then approach the general population of our area.
In March 2007, time was given to the key messages to be used by board members who were invited to speak at a one-day forum entitled "Innovative Tools for Faith-Based Housing Developers", sponsored by the Regional Municipality of Peel, the City of Brampton and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
In January 2007, members of a Montreal interfaith organization, L'Abri en Ville, gave an interesting account of their work which is to provide a stable and fulfilling environment for persons with a mental illness through safe, affordable housing and inclusion in a supportive community. L'Abri en Ville achieves this through rental apartments and supportive volunteers. As well, board member Peter Nicoll spoke about MHI's fundraising plans and the need for volunteers in order to gear up MHI's activities.
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