November 22 is National Housing Day - a day dedicated to raising awareness about housing and homelessness in Canada.
In recognition of this day, we are excited to share ALL of our articles on housing and building in one place - everything from what there is a housing crisis, to how can we use church-owned land into a legacy that houses those in needs for years to come.
- What do we mean when we talk about a housing crisis?
- How can churches continue to lift up communities through redevelopment?
- What are the barriers to building and how do we remove them?
- What is EHM doing as housing leader in Toronto?
I hope that these resources will inspire a sense of hope that we CAN change what is happening in the city we love and call home!
What Tenants and Clients have to say, this National Housing Day
Every year on National Housing Day, housing providers go to Queen’s Park and talk to our elected representatives about the urgent need for housing. But something EHM deeply values, is helping to amplify the voice of those whose lives are directly affected by the housing and homelessness crisis. We created opportunities for people who rely on the Drop-In, and for tenants in both residences, to communicate with our elected officials, in their own way. We held focus groups, collected letters, poems and stories, and even art. We asked questions like, “how would having a home change your life?” “what have…
Evangel Hall Mission
Stronger Together: How Housing Providers are Using Mergers and Amalgamations to Save Money and Improve Quality of Life for Tenants
This year, EHM’s Executive Director, Ainsley Chapman, was a panelist at the Ontario Non-profit Housing Association’s annual provincial conference. In the session titled “Dating, Cohabitating and Marriage: The Three Stages of Amalgamation”, Ainsley Chapman shared learnings from EHM’s amalgamation with Portland Place. Why are amalgamations being discussed so often? During the 1990s, governments were investing heavily in housing – giving grants and mortgages to agencies large and small, and to communities of faith, to build mixed income housing. Government funding was easy to get, land was ample, the cost of labour and materials was cheap, and volunteers had determination and…
Evangel Hall Mission
Announcing EHM’s New Vision, Mission, and Values!
By Ainsley Chapman As we approach National Housing Day, November 22nd, EHM is thrilled to share our new Vision, Mission, and Values! Since 2019, the EHM Board has been working hard to understand where EHM can have the biggest impact and meet the most community urgent needs. Just as we have responded to social and economic crises throughout two world wars, the Great Depression, multiple recessions, and a global pandemic, we are responding to the Housing Crisis in Toronto. Vision Bringing hope and leadership to address housing and financial instability in Toronto. Mission Provide and create opportunities for individuals and…
Evangel Hall Mission
Moving through a Merger Process
EHM’s Senior Director of Programs and Client Care recently won an award for her leadership during a 2021 merger between EHM and Portland Place, a small, 45 unit housing provider. Jennifer was recognized in particular for how she engaged staff and clients throughout the whole process. We sat down with Jennifer to hear more behind her strategy. What motivated EHM and Portland Place to merge? It’s become really hard for small housing providers to succeed in the current climate. It certainly wasn’t easy to build housing like Portland Place in the 1990s, but a lot has changed since then. Portland…
Evangel Hall Mission
Faith Based Housing and Redevelopment at the Ontario Non-profit Housing Association Provincial Conference
Every year in October, the Ontario Non-profit Housing Association (ONPHA) hosts a provincial conference that brings together people to learn and share about everything from building, growing, to managing housing. Two major themes came out this year – the first looked at the struggles of small housing providers, and the second was at the challenges that faith-based communities face when trying to build new housing. Some of the issues that were raised throughout the conference include: Small housing providers aren’t sustainable and are rapidly exploring mergers and amalgamations During the 1990s, there was a lot of building of small apartments…
Evangel Hall Mission
More Than Just Housing, We Need to Build Community
By Ainsley Chapman, Executive Director, Evangel Hall Mission As more and more church properties are being sold to developers and private owners for housing or businesses, churches across the country in big cities and in small rural communities and of all denominations, have started important conversations about the future of their church land and buildings. One of those conversations is the potential of redeveloping church land to help provide affordable housing to help slow the housing crisis, even if it means there are fewer financial resources made from the property. This is an exciting time to be dreaming and planning…
Evangel Hall Mission
Download the above articles here