Housing Quarterly
Our ‘Housing Quarterly’ contains information about PARC and specifically, our housing strategy and portfolio. Understanding that the past few years have been challenging for everyone, our goal is to foster better communication with all of our neighbours and encourage dialogue/shared learning for any questions or concerns that arise.
National Housing Day- 2023
Yesterday was National Housing Day.
The day was marked by rallies, gatherings, events, and acknowledgments across this city, province, and country, all focusing on the state of housing in 2023.
Since 2000, November 22nd has been the day when Canadians collectively reflect on housing actions and policy, calling on all levels of government to create real solutions that will house every Canadian. Yet, in every city and town, people in shelters, tents, and on the streets are unhoused in greater and greater numbers.
On November 21st, PARC hosted a watch party. We invited members of our community, tenants, partners, and advocates to join us to watch the Federal Fall Economic Statement. We came together to watch for housing. In preparation for the fall economic statement, we asked people who come to our drop-in as well as those who joined the watch party to answer the question,
“How has the housing crisis affected you?”
Dozens upon dozens of responses were penned and posted on our walls. Here are some of the comments:
“Depressed.”
“Too ashamed to take the job.”
“I have been sleeping outside on concrete… no hope!!!”
“Not being able to afford a place on $1200 a month.”
“Gives me little option of doing anything now that I am homeless.”
“I sleep outside, and that’s all I got.”
“I’m depressed. I don’t sleep. I can’t even afford to rent a room! Does anyone care!”
“Everyone has a right to be housed regardless of their position in life.”
“And get it straight, it’s called homelessness, not a housing crisis!”
We sat and listened to the federal government talk about helping people to pay their mortgages or buy a home. The comments above lined the walls.
There was no mention of homelessness.
There was no portion for asylum seekers and refugees.
An affordable housing grant will begin in 2025.
There are 27,000 people on the supportive housing waitlist today.
Here we are the day after National Housing Day…and very little has changed for those who need help the most.
We cannot stand by. We must demand. We must build. We must partner. Every organization needs to act with the urgency that this crisis requires.
PARC will do what it can.
2023-2027 Strategic Plan Priority: Strengthen Supportive Housing
Providing affordable housing solutions for the most vulnerable in our city remains a part of our mission and, a key priority.
Our new five-year plan includes specific objectives and actions in development or will be developed over the next five years for PARC housing as we continue to deliver on our mission to provide a home with supports to the growing number of people coming to PARC.
Connecting in community
Through our monthly e-newsletter, we reached out to the Parkdale community for volunteer landscape/design support to advise on options for some of our outdoor spaces – and have connected with a local resident who will help us with some planning.
We also received a recent donation of refrigerators – a much-needed ‘basic’ for units.
We are grateful to those who expressed interest in helping support improvements for our tenants!
Information and feedback
We engage with our community in many ways, if you would like to receive more information or send us email, we have the following options:
We update our website (parc.on.ca) on a regular basis and each ‘Quarterly’ will be available at:
https://parc.on.ca/parc-housing
You can subscribe to our monthly E-newsletter with news, events and updates from PARC at:
https://parc.on.ca/our-community/parc-e-news
Questions or comments, please email info@parc.on.ca – this inbox is monitored regularly.