By Katie Donnelly O’Neill
Both ex-offenders and new immigrants will soon have access to more temporary housing in the city, thanks to the John Howard Society and the Catholic Immigration Centre of Ottawa..
Seven organizations in the city, including these two, received $2.25 million as part of the federal government’s initiative to alleviate homelessness. The two organizations plan to combat the lack of affordable housing in Ottawa.
But Somerset Ward Coun. Elisabeth Arnold says these efforts are only a “drop in the bucket” for what is really needed to solve the problem of affordable housing
The John Howard Society of Ottawa, located on Old St.Patrick Street, provides services to ex-offenders and to those who are at a high risk of participating in crimes.
The non-profit organization will be using the $420,000 it received in federal funding to renovate the vacant two-storey rooming house at 387 MacLaren St., says executive director Don Wadel.
Starting next March 31, the empty property located above Hartman’s Your Independent Grocer will provide temporary housing for up to one year for 13 male ex-offenders.
A full-time staff member of the organization will live in one of the bachelor apartments to monitor tenants and provide services.
“Many of these people who are leaving institutions will have problems in which they require some type of counselling,” he says. The ex-offenders will have to sign an agreement stating they will accept any treatment the organization deems necessary.
The tenants will have to pay $325 a month in rent, which will be covered by the residency component of their welfare cheques. They will have to provide their own food.
The amount the ex-offenders pay in rent won’t even come close to covering the organization’s operating costs, Wadel says. The organization is looking into obtaining additional funding from the United Way and the Correctional Service of Canada.
The John Howard Society wants the ex-offenders “to become stable” before moving into an independent living situation, he says.
The Catholic Immigration Centre which helps new immigrants integrate into Canadian society, assisted 850 people to find affordable housing last year, says executive director, Carl Nicholson.
The centre is using the $472,000 it received to build 24 bachelor apartments that will be used for temporary housing for new immigrants. But it still has not found a location.
A site near the corner of Rideau and Dalhousie streets was rejected by the municipal government as unsuitable.
The centre’s clientele prefer the downtown area because it is the “hub of transportation” and this makes it easier to look for work, he says. But the property in this area is too expensive, Nicholson says.