- by Councillor Carol Merton
A housing solution requires many parts working together to find, implement and support actions which will sustain our communities for future generations. Housing is not the sole responsibility of one level of government. It is shared between all the levels of government who must work together with the Community to look for innovations in this complex time.
As a community, there are untapped resources or “community wealth” beyond tangible assets like dollars, buildings and land but in resource knowledge and information sharing. Community economic sustainability involves collaborative approaches to explore private, public, philanthropic partnerships, recognizing and implementing social financing models and leveraging funds and assets across many sectors.
What might our options be?
• Consider a Community Housing Forum to create the community conversation platform for sharing of ideas, resources, shared housing strategies, local housing initiatives, implementation strategies and networking possibilities for local stakeholders, knowledge keepers, those with lived experience, our youth and those who have expertise in community housing.
• Explore who could be part of this housing conversation. This might include developers, especially those who have within their business mission statement or purpose the idea of social development in communities, real estate associations, financial experts, economic development advisors, and builders.
• Look at community land trusts and shared equity to create new social financing models.
• Encourage individual and group philanthropic land donations designated and dedicated to be used specifically for attainable and affordable housing.
• Consider community bonds, products and services geared towards affordable housing based on the CMHC definition.
• Link with the Community Foundations and other organizations for grants and other funding source options.
• Explore the possibility of partnerships with organizations that are seeking extra revenue and/or long-term value from land they already own. These might include faith communities, Legions, institutions, municipalities, not-for-profits and co-op housing.
• Talk with organizations with a proven track record of effective housing build models such as Habitat for Humanity to explore and create models that could work for our local needs
.• Link with educational institutions to discuss solutions and initiatives for student housing.
• Connect with employers and the Chamber of Commerce to consider employment housing for the key human resources, recruitment strategies, skills and trades we need for economic growth, development and sustainability of our community.
• Consider options for collaborative funding application grants between organizations and institutions for programs and financial supports within present and future program budget allocations
.• Explore available options regarding land leasing arrangements or repurposing underutilized buildings.It has been my pleasure to work with the Institute of Southern Georgian Bay for the past year and a half as a part of their Housing sub group. I look forward to the upcoming launch of the Institute’s Housing Tool Kit, coming soon on theirwebsite.
We can we ignite the conversation to unlock our community potential. We can change attitudes and approaches to find achievable solutions to the housing crisis.
Our community’s sustainable future depends on it.
source: This was first shared on Councillor Merton's Facebook page, and shared with permission.
