The Journey of A Tiny Housing Project Proposal
The Tiny Housing Project Proposal has been around for six years now. The first time that it saw the light of day was in 2009. Jim Watson, who is the Mayor of Ottawa, was, at the time, the Provincial Minister of Housing. That Ministry at the time, gave a call out to all interested parties and the public to submit proposals, ideas and comments for consideration for their Ten Year Provincial Housing Strategy Plan. I was politely thanked by letter for submitting the project proposal, there was no commitment to nor momentum established for this type of project!
The Municipal Government of Ottawa has established a mandate to address homelessness under the umbrella of the Housing First Model. Unfortunately, the Municipal Budget does not allow for the considerable investment that would be required to address this cities significant lack of Affordable Housing. Last year, One Hundred and Forty Affordable Housing Units were built in Ottawa, the Social Housing Registry has a 7-10 year wait list with 7,800 people on that list. This does not include those who are in Shelters, at risk of losing their housing because they can’t really afford to pay their rent and the hidden homeless, those couch surfing, or staying with family.
Myself, I have been living in subsidized housing for almost seven years now. Two and half years in Inuit Housing with my former partner, now on my own with my daughter in Community Housing for four and a half years. I could never afford market rent, because my Disability Pension puts me well below what was once considered the Low Income Cutoff, (LICO), of $30,000.
The conundrum that we, we being the collective society, as far as supporting Affordable Housing is concerned, when we talk about Affordable Housing who is it affordable for? Most, like myself who are living on Pensions, disability or otherwise, will always require subsidies in order to keep us housed. Building the buildings is only part of the cost! It is the maintenance and the subsidies needed to keep us housed over the duration of a lifetime at times where the greater costs are incurred. This, I suspect is part of the reason that all levels of government are reticent to put forth the monies. The fact that funding models do not allow for any long term planning contributes to the lack of Affordable Housing. We need a National Housing and Poverty Reduction Strategy.
The seed of the idea for the Tiny Housing Community Project was planted a long time ago! In 1996 I read a book that has kept me inspired and motivated for many year’s. The book is called,”Instructions to The Cook, A Zen Master’s Lessons in Living a Life That Matters, by Bernie Glassman.” I am including the link in case you are interested, or curious enough to discover for yourself what wisdom is contained there! Described as both a manual for spiritual transformation and a call to action.
http://www.amazon.ca/Instructions-Cook-Masters-Lessons-Matters/dp/1611800684
This review of the book and the work that Bernie Glassman and his colleagues have done in Yonkers, New York has been taken from the link that I provided. This best describes what was done and continues to be done on a monumental scale by what is now known as Greyston Foundation. Please follow the link to see what being inspired can do, the Social Good bottom line! http://greyston.com/
“Zen is not just about what we do in the meditation hall, but what we do in the home, the workplace, and the community. That’s the premise of this book: how to cook what Zen Buddhists call “the supreme meal”—life. It has to be nourishing, and it has to be shared. And we can use only the ingredients at hand. Inspired by the thirteenth-century manual of the same name by Dogen, the founder of the Japanese Soto Zen tradition, this book teaches us how we can “enlarge the family we’re feeding” if we just use some imagination.
Bernie Glassman founded Greyston Bakery in Yonkers, New York, in 1982 to employ those whom other companies deem unemployable—the homeless, ex-cons, recovering addicts, low-skill individuals—with the belief that investing in people, and not just products, does pay. He was right. Greyston has evolved into an $8 million-a-year business with clients all over New York City. It is the sole supplier of brownies to Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, and has even sold cakes to the White House.
But financial profit is only one of two bottom lines that Greyston is committed to. The other one is social impact, and this goal is certainly being met. The bakery enterprise has led to the creation of the Greyston Foundation, an integrated network of organizations that provide affordable housing, child care, counseling services, and health care to families in the community. Using entrepreneurship to solve the problems of the inner city, Greyston has become a national model for comprehensive community development. Its giving back is more than just sloughing off a percentage of its profits and donating it to charity; it’s about working with the community’s needs right from the beginning—bringing them from the margins to the core. As its company motto goes, “We don’t hire people to bake brownies. We bake brownies to hire people.”
This book is as much a self-manual as a business manual, addressing such concepts as
- Beginner’s mind
- The Middle Way of Sustainability
- The “hungry ghosts” of Buddhism as a picture of all humanity
- Working with our faults
- Indra’s Net and the interconnectedness of life
- Leaving no trace”
Sharing the story of Greyston and Bernie Glassman it is my hope that you are inspired as I was, and still am, to do what I can, with what I have, where I am!
Further to the Tiny Housing Community Project and why I firmly believe that it’s time has come! When money is only put into the buildings there often is not much put into the building of community. I am going to show you some examples of how community is being rebuilt by some of the most vulnerable in our society, members of homeless communities across North America.
In my proposal there is a quick reference to Dignity Village located in Portland, Oregon. Dignity Village was initially a Tent City that came about through the Occupy Movement. When the Occupy camps were dismantled, the drive to establish something permanent was born. Dignity Village established a baseline for this type of community, as you can see for yourself in the links to key website information that is being provided.
Dignity Village is a membership-based community in NE Portland, providing shelter off the streets for 60 people a night since 2001. It’s democratically self-governed with a mission to provide transitional housing that fosters community and self-empowerment– a radical experiment to end homelessness. http://dignityvillage.org/
Our Mission
We seek to create a green, sustainable urban Village for those who are seeking shelter but are unable to find it. We feel it’s necessary to establish a community-based living facility where people living on the streets can have their basic needs met in a stable, sanitary environment free from violence, theft, disruption of peace, and drugs and alcohol.http://dignityvillage.org/about-2/mission-values/
Dignity Village started as both a camping protest by a group of committed homeless activists, and a viable alternative to sleeping on the streets and in doorways. It emerged as a transient tent city in December of 2000 on a parcel of vacant city land underneath a downtown bridge. Over the course of a year, the tent city was swept around Portland, occupying various public spaces, and repeatedly finding themselves in high-profile standoffs with officials. Whenever notice was given to leave a campsite, early residents of “Camp Dignity” packed their belongings into shopping carts and pushed them in parades to their next location.
For a time, a space under the Fremont Bridge was known as Camp Dignity. In December 2001, Dignity Village registered as a 501(c)3 non-profit status with the IRS. When the ruling came down that they needed to vacate from that location, the considerable force of the organizers split into three groups. One moved out to a forty-acre farm outside Portland, and called it Rancho Dignity. A second group occupied a field off Naito Parkway, known as the Field Of Dreams. That camp was swept, and several members were arrested for camping on public lands. The third group moved to an industrial area in NE Portland, Sunderland Yard, where the Village still sits.
Moving to the Sunderland Yard site was indeed controversial. Some early members of Dignity Village felt it was too far outside the city, doomed to failure because residents wouldn’t be able to access necessary services.
This move was meant to be temporary until a permanent site could be identified. Instead, it has been the home of Dignity Village since its controversial beginnings. After three years surviving in its temporary status, it was sanctioned as an official tiny house Village in 2004 by the Portland City Council. To do this, the City Council designated a portion of Sunderland Yard as a Designated Campground under the terms of ORS 446.265. This State statute allows 6 municipalities to designate up to two sites as campgrounds to be used for “transitional housing accommodations” for “persons who lack permanent shelter and cannot be placed in other low income housing.” The statute notes that these transitional campgrounds may be operated by private persons or nonprofit organizations.
http://dignityvillage.org/history/origins/
Dignity Village supplements its operating budget with a variety of entrepreneurial projects. Over the years, the Village has raised money through plant sales, tie-dyed t-shirt sales, and flea markets. For a number of years, members of Dignity Village ran a hot dog stand in downtown Portland, called “Dignity Dogs,” through a partnership with Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon.
These fire starting buddies are available for sale, as well as seasoned hardwood.
Currently, our most successful microenterprise programs are scrap metal recycling and firewood sales. Seasoned firewood can be purchased at Dignity Village seven days a week. Call Ed K. at the Guardshack for more information. http://dignityvillage.org/about-2/microbusiness/
In Eugene, Oregon a similar village has taken shape. Originally called Opportunity Village, it has recently changed it’s name to Square One Village. There are now two such villages in Eugene, Oregon. One of the key factors that has helped to bring cohesiveness to the villages is that they are models of self governance. The community members decided from the outset to have a vetting process in place, including an agreement that all member’s sign and must abide by. The agreement includes a prohibition of violence, no stealing, no drugs or alcohol use on the site. Tolerance and participation are encouraged! Please follow the link to see what has been, and is continuing to be accomplished by these formerly unhoused people. http://www.squareonevillages.org/
Quixote Village, another Tiny Housing Community located in Olympia, Washington describes itself as the vision that grew from a self-governing tent camp of homeless adults. The village itself was built as a formal development, it received government funding and was built by a contractor. In contrast Dignity Village and the original Opportunity Villages were built by the people living in the communities. http://quixotevillage.com/
Moving forward with this Tiny Housing Community Project proposal, there has been interest from individuals, none from the bureaucrats or politicians in my area. Participating in a local community initiative called Civics Boot Camp in 2014, sponsored by Citizens Academy I was able to get the Tiny Housing Community Project highlighted as one of several projects that we worked on in a group presentation format to a panel of experts, familiar with the inner workings of municipal government. The project received good reviews and there were suggestions made as to how to move the project to the next level. For information about the Citizens Academy and Civic Boot Camp please follow the link. http://www.citizensacademy.ca/about-us/people/
I continue to plant the seed of The Tiny Housing Community Project where I can. Presently I am working with the Community Development Office at Sandy Hill Community Health Centre to reach a wider audience. Stay tuned!
Basic Income Guarantee in the Ottawa Citizen
This Ottawa Citizen article covers the recent “From Hunger to Health in the Nation’s Capital” Forum, whose members gave great support to BIG as a way to fight hunger in Ottawa:
Letter To The Editor: Overseas Markets Drive Horse-Slaughter in B.C.
This commanding letter on horse slaughter in Canada was written by D. Fisher of Kelowna, British Columbia.
It’s simply magisterial in its eloquence!
Please share…..
“Industry without ethics, capitalism without conscience – is tortured flesh the flavour of our times?
The Canadian horse slaughter industry is an abomination. Within its harrowing abyss exist the theft of liberty, unpardonable anguish and the dismemberment of a noble icon.
Advocates in favour of this industry present the following arguments for its existence:
- Horses are meat – tasty meat for man. I want some.
- Slaughterhouses humanely euthanize old, crippled and unwanted horses.
- Slaughter controls over-population.
- The industry provides employment.
Different perceptions and the high ground we call morality oppose these arguments:
- Horses are not meat to do with as we please. Throughout history, beside the footprints of man are the hoof prints of the horse. A pony is a child’s dream, a horse an…
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Exact Cost: Phase 6, Year 5, 2015
It is that time of year again!
It cost quite a bit more this year than in the previous one, but this said, four of my eight goals were met and a few more things too. The costs all tallied up for my tiny house and land are now over 100K, but this said, it is now nearing completion and the livability is really great now.
The accomplishments that I ticked off of my to do list are: Install the Mini 12 stove chimney set up, fix the bathroom so that the mice cannot get in, insulate and install flooring on the main level, and build seating. I also put in a new support post in the cloth porch because it was sagging a little bit from the snow load. Too, I took a load of stuff to the dump. The things that went were the mouse urine soaked bathroom items, the…
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Things To Be Thankful For
Written by Denise Deby.
Here are a few things I’m thankful for these days:
Advocacy: I’m grateful to all the wonderful people around who are speaking up about what needs to be changed, finding creative solutions, organizing opportunities for others to make a difference, and inspiring the rest of us to think, live and act more mindfully.
Art: Ottawa has many impressive people who through their art, music, films, stories and other creative pursuits are not just spreading the work about environmental and social issues, but helping us see that different ways of thinking and acting are possible. (Don’t miss the Walking With Our Sisters memorial, a powerful tribute to missing and murdered Indigenous women, at Carleton University’s Art Gallery until Oct. 16, 2015.)
Being a part of nature: Getting outdoors is calming, rejuvenating and a reminder of our connection with other things. Right…
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Chaudière Falls and The Islands
Written by Denise Deby.
Photo by Shanta Rohse on Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic https://www.flickr.com/photos/23817022@N00/2220015238
In the Ottawa River, between Ottawa and Gatineau, the Chaudière Falls and three islands—Albert, Victoria and Chaudière—are a hidden but significant area with a lot of potential.
They’re home to a closed Domtar factory and largely cut off from public view, but a debate is raging about future plans for the site.
The area is sacred to Anishinaabeg. Local Algonquin Elder William Commanda had a dream to restore it as an internationally renowned gathering and interpretive centre and park for all people. Celebrated architect Douglas Cardinal worked with him on this, and continues to promote the vision.
You can find out more about the area and the vision at http://www.asinabka.com/geninfo.htm and http://freethefalls.ca/.
At the same time, Windmill Development Group is planning to build a mix of condominium towers and townhomes, commercial space and…
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