The Indigenous Caucus of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association has been busy in recent months. In November, it proposed a For Indigenous, By Indigenous strategy to address community-housing challenges.
The Centre d’amitié autochtone du Lac-Saint-Jean, in Roberval, Québec, is working to improve housing conditions for Indigenous people, as more and more leave the reserve to settle in urban areas, by engaging in dialogue with non-Indigenous homeowners.
In the Eastern Townships region of Québec, the non-profit organization Hameau des Cultures seeks to provide eldercare to people living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Focusing on the human rather than the disease, its compassionate model of care is a breath of fresh air in a sector riddled with problems.
Thanks in part to a $50,000 grant from the Centre, Hamilton East Kiwanis Non-Profit Homes and Victoria Park Community Homes are joining forces on a housing development that will see 367 affordable rental units built in Hamilton, Ont. They are experimenting with a new collaborative model that will allow smaller and niche-housing providers to build on their strengths and capacities to better compete with the private sector.
With the active support of the Community Housing Transformation Centre and St. Francis Xavier University’s Extension Department, Nova Scotia’s non-profit and co-operative housing groups are exploring the need and desire to strengthen their individual and collective capacity to further develop the sector.
