Powerful X Nature - Affordable Housing in Toronto


Date: May 28, 2017
Hosts : Jeneace & Moya
Topic : Affordable Housing


This week, Moya and Jeneace talked about the importance of Affordable Housing with our guests Iris and Sofia from Jessie’s Housing Program and Stephanie, a young mother and Jessie’s participant.

In Toronto, 46% of tenants spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities while almost 25% spend more than 50% of their income on rent and utilities. Moya and Jeneace asked Iris and Sofia to break down why rent keeps rising in Toronto, the ways government controls rent increases and what happens when people get displaced from their homes because they can’t afford their rent. We talked about why housing affordability is critical not only because everyone deserves safe, affordable housing but because housing affordability means people don’t have to skip out on groceries for a week because they don’t have enough to pay rent and buy food. The team also dove into the importance and crisis in subsidized housing in Toronto, discussing why waitlists are so long, who can get priority housing and why more, and safe, subsidized housing is long overdue.

In the second half of the show, Moya and Jeneace interviewed Stephanie about her experiences as a young mom looking for housing. We broke down the many barriers, stigma and kinds of discrimination young parents face looking for affordable housing and talked about why affordable housing is so important.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @PowerfulXNature to stay up to date on upcoming shows!

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If you’re a young mother and need support finding safe and affordable housing, contact Jessie’s centre at 416 365 1888 and visit http://jessiescentre.org/ for more information.

If you or anyone you know are homeless or on the verge of becoming homeless, here is a list of organizations that could potentially help and support you:

Covenant House Toronto – 416 598 4898
Eva’s Initiatives - 416 977 4497
Youth Without Shelter – 416 481 1838
Red Door Family Shelter – 416 915 5671

To apply for subsidized housing in Toronto visit Housing Connections at https://www.housingconnections.ca/Applicants/ApplyForHousing.asp​

Kids Help phone is always available to provide you with external information within the community – 1 800 668 6868



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