Homeless people in York Region, north of Toronto, are suffering both physically and mentally. Those are the findings of a new needs assessment of homeless people from the York Region Alliance to End Homelessness. In addition to setting out details of the health needs of homeless people, the YRAEH assessment sets out ten practical recommendations. Three years ago, the Wellesley Institute supported Street Health in its assessment of the health status of homeless people in Toronto called The Street Health Report 2007.

The UK Chartered Institute of Housing has released Housing Pact: Making the Case for Housing - a blueprint for Britain. The pact sets out a series of key priorities, including investing in hew affordable homes; preserving and improving existing homes; supporting the housing needs of seniors; building housing solutions from the community up (“localism”); breaking down silos among governmental housing and community initiatives; protecting the environment; and tackling poverty. Canadian housing and homelessness advocates have been pressing for similar priorities in a new national housing strategy for this country.

The Obama administration released earlier today a 74-page, detailed strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness in the United States, with specific targets, timelines and accountability for results. The US plan stands in sharp contrast to the Canadian federal government’s national homelessness initiative, which is a patchwork of funding and initiatives that barely covers 61 communities and lacks specific goals. Stay tuned, I’m in Washington and will post more details on the US plan shortly.

Toronto Community Housing Company should create an independent Commissioner of Housing Equity to ensure that tenants facing eviction receive a fair process. That’s one of the key recommendations from the LeSage Review, which was appointed to inquire into the death of Al Gosling, a TCHC tenant who died after being evicted from the City of Toronto’s housing provider. Read the rest of this entry »

On Tuesday, June 22, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness will unveil Opening Doors: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. Federal agencies will use the plan to develop programs and policies to reduce and end homelessness. The national homelessness plan is the latest in a series of housing and homelessness policies from the Obama administration that includes $1 billion to capitalize the US National Housing Trust Fund. Read the rest of this entry »

The Ontario government promised last year, during its six-month province-wide consultation, that it would release its Long-term Affordable Housing Strategy by the spring of 2010. With just days remaining until the end of spring, a senior official in the office of the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has confirmed that the the province will miss its own deadline. Read the rest of this entry »