From Crisis to Prevention | A Podcast by RentSmart

This episode we sit down to speak with Andrew Holeton. Andrew is Director of Operations at Ready to Rent BC. Building on a background in small business management, Andrew Holeton has worked in the community and social enterprise sector for 18 years in operational, developmental, policy and advocacy roles. Following a decade of frontline experience in BC and Ontario, his past positions include management roles in employment services, skills training, and youth programs. After serving as Director of Social Enterprise with the Learning Enrichment Foundation in Toronto, Andrew and his wife moved to Victoria in 2015. Prior to working at Ready to Rent, Andrew was a Program Director with the Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria. Listen in to learn about how RentSmart is rolling out in communities across the country and the key lessons learned. Andrew also talks about an exciting new initiative that mitigates discrimination in the housing sector, the Landlord Guarantee Fund. This will help support youth leaving care to find and maintain rental housing.

In this episode, we are speaking with Melissa Jeffrey, Program Manager at the London Housing Stability Bank through the Salvation Army Centre of Hope in London, Ontario. Melissa started working at the Salvation Army Centre of Hope after finishing college and has been working in homelessness prevention programs for the past 10 years. The housing stability bank offers financial assistance to low-income Londoners to obtain and retain their housing and offers financial assistance to those at risk of homelessness to remain housed. The Housing Stability Bank also provides grants or interest-free loans to assist with utility arrears pertaining to gas, electricity or water. Listen in to hear Melissa share best practices on eviction prevention and how the Centre of Hope is working collaboratively with community organizations in London to address the issue of housing instability.

This episode we sit down to talk to the Peer Housing Support project team from the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness. The Peer Housing Support Project is a community-driven solution to bring those transitioning from homelessness to housing together with experiential peer supporters. Peer supporters provide a range of support and assist peers in navigating available resources, thus promoting success in the transition to stable housing. The program was designed by and for people with lived experiences of homelessness and continues to be guided by the Peer Housing Support Advisory Committee. Stay tuned to hear more about the importance of peer support and how it should be a core component to supporting people transitioning from homelessness to housing and also tips on implementing a similar program in your community.

This episode, we are speaking with Janice Abbott, CEO of Atira Women’s Resource Society and Atira Property Management. Abbott has dedicated her career to helping Vancouver’s most vulnerable, she has been with Atira since 1992. She has led the organization from a single transition house to a large, multi-service agency with more than 20 non-residential programs and 58 non-market housing sites across the Lower Mainland, totalling just over 3,200 units of housing. In this episode, Janice speaks about the suite of resources Atira uses to prevent evictions including the Good Neighbour Agreement. The Good Neighbour Agreement is designed to help make sure all tenants are committed to making their neighbourhood and community a safe, secure, happy and healthy place to live. Janice discusses the link between violence against women and homelessness and the importance of acknowledging that experiences of women's homelessness are diverse and often invisible. Atira is grounded in an anti-oppressive and trauma-informed framework which support long term housing solutions for women. Listen in to hear what Janice has to say about macro-level solutions to preventing women's homelessness.

This episode, we are speaking with Marlon Merraro Director of Initiatives of Eva’s. Marlon has over two decades of experience in various community and government organizations across the City of Toronto. Marlon has a Bachelor of Social Work Degree from Ryerson University and is a graduate of Schulich School of Business Emerging Leaders Non-Profit Management from York University. In this episode, Marlon explained how the Reconnect Program is evolving to meet the needs of youth at risk of homelessness in Toronto. He outlines the importance of meeting youth and families where they are and adapting the services to meet the needs of the people they serve. To prevent and end homelessness, Marlon emphasizes the need for strong housing policies, strong anti-colonization policies and strong anti-poverty policies. He also discussed how counselling needs to be culturally competent and not just based on the medical model but based in community. Listen in for a few incredible stories of prevention and reconnection from the Family Reconnect Program. And also be sure to check out the Family Reconnect Toolkit for exploring family intervention methods in responding to homeless and at-risk youth.

In this episode, we are speaking with Cynthia Summers, the Commissioner of Housing Equity at The Office of the Commissioner of Housing Equity also known as OCHE. Cynthia's history of public service has transcended traditional disciplinary lines. She graduated from McMaster University with an MSW in Social Welfare Policy. After working for several years in a variety of front-line social work positions, she was appointed to the Ontario RHT. There, she adjudicated landlord-tenant disputes while also teaching in the Social Service Worker programs at Sheridan College and Mohawk College. In January 2014 Cynthia was honoured to join Toronto Community Housing as its first Commissioner of Housing Equity. In this role, she ensures the fair, transparent and equitable treatment of seniors and vulnerable persons living in social housing with the goal of stabilizing housing and minimizing evictions. In this episode, Cynthia describes the unique approach that OCHE takes to addressing eviction prevention in Toronto. The OCHE Approach is an anti-oppressive practice and is centred on relationships with tenants to prevent eviction rather than react to it. Cynthia describes how this effective approach is unique in Canada and how the principles can be applied in other organizations to provide dignified solutions.

This episode, we are sitting down with Kate Lambert to talk about the Youth Prenatal and Parenting Program with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Victoria. Kate is also the Strategic Program Manager at Ready to Rent BC. Even though we work with Kate, we’ve never talked about her work as a care home provider. It’s also interesting to hear the links that Kate makes between her work with the Boys and Girls club and homelessness prevention. Kate has worked in housing and related fields for over twenty years, first in the UK, now in BC. She has worked in many different environments including corrections, supportive recovery, shelters and now housing education.

This episode, we sit down to talk with Dan Kershaw of Furniture Bank. Dan Kershaw is the Executive Director at Furniture Bank, one of Canada’s most rapidly growing social enterprises. Furniture Banks helps turns affordable housing into affordable homes through the diversion of gently loved furniture from landfills.  In this episode, we talk about the importance of making an affordable house a home and treating everyone with dignity and respect when they walk through the door of Furniture Bank. We also discuss the link between employment and homelessness prevention and conscious consumerism and waste diversion. Dan also describes how social enterprise has allowed Furniture Bank to grow and his vision for the future. Connect with Furniture Bank: https://www.furniturebank.org/

In this episode, we sit down with Christina Grammenos, Community Engagement Coordinator at Aunt Leah's Place. Christina’s main role is developing The Friendly Landlord Network - a Metro Vancouver-wide network of homeowners and property managers who are interested in renting to youth who have aged out of foster care. The Friendly Landlord Network provides landlords with the opportunity to be part of the solution and offer safe, affordable housing to youth transitioning out of care. In this episode we talk about how being a good tenant is not something you innately know and how discrimination in housing disproportionately affects youth. We discuss the landlord mitigation fund and the research partnership between Aunt Leah’s and Ready to Rent. Finally, Christina touches on the economic and moral importance of a homelessness prevention model to support housing stability. Connect with Aunt Leah's: https://auntleahs.org/ Friendly Landlord Network: https://friendlylandlordnetwork.com/