We strive to be responsive

Affordable Housing

We are all God’s children. We strive to be responsive to God’s call to share what we have, to help one another with kindness and love.

We are responding to the housing crisis around us that has left many unable to afford a home or the supports they require to live in community with others.

We are founding members of the Waterloo Region Alliance to End Homelessness. Learn more here.

Podcasts & Blog Posts

Podcasts
How do we create permanently affordable public housing again?
How do we create permanently affordable public housing again?
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How do Amazon & Uber undermine affordable housing?
How do Amazon & Uber undermine affordable housing?

We’re joined this week by housing systems engineer Kirsten Wright as zoom out and look at housing on a systemic level. Adam and Kirsten discuss the emergence of the “Sharing Economy” and how a more inter-dependent society can transform housing for the better. We also look at the underside of this development, and the ways in which large corporations exploit a sharing economy to create a deeper divide in wealth and housing

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Can Developers Build Cheaper Housing?
Can Developers Build Cheaper Housing?

This week we're joined for the second part of our 2-part conversation with Dan Driedger of Beyond Housing, as we get deeper into how Beyond Housing manages to stay financially sustainable while also building affordable housing. We also chat about what it means to create community fabric, and the stories of success Dan has seen amidst the challenges of the current state of housing.

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Who are the unseen victims of the housing crisis?
Who are the unseen victims of the housing crisis?

On this week's episode, we begin part one or a two-part conversation with Dan Driedger the director of Beyond Housing (formerly called Menno Homes). We hear how and why he went from a successful career in the for-profit industrial sector to a full-time role working for an Affordable Housing non-profit. Adam and Dan discuss Beyond Housing's work supporting the unseen victims of the housing crisis.

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Episode 11: Can Politicians Change Housing Overnight?
Episode 11: Can Politicians Change Housing Overnight?

To open Season 2 of Trinity and The Hub’s Digital Ministry project “The Winter is Coming” Affordable housing podcast, Adam sat down for an in-person interview with Kitchener Centre MP Mike Morrice to find out. Mike and Adam discuss what the public needs from politicians for tangible progress in affordable housing, and how the public can press politicians to act now for housing justice for all. We also chat about the ‘legislated poverty’ that holds many of our neighbours, particularly those with disabilities, trapped below the poverty line, and how the system isn’t broken: it was built this way.

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Episode 10: Leah Logan
Episode 10: Leah Logan

Overcoming NIMBY + People-centered development

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Episode 9: Joe Mancini
Episode 9: Joe Mancini

Antidotes to Bureaucracy and the Success of a Shelter with no Rules

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Episode 8: Cathy Baer
Episode 8: Cathy Baer

How Churches Can Change Housing

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Episode 7: Katherine Bitzer
Episode 7: Katherine Bitzer

Encampments & How we Respond

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Episode 6: Danielle Strickland
Episode 6: Danielle Strickland

Changing how we do life together + IMBY Homes

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Episode 5: Gemma Ricker
Episode 5: Gemma Ricker

Supportive Housing & Safe Supply

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Episode 4: Kirsten Wright
Episode 4: Kirsten Wright

Re-engineering the systems of housing + community wealth

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Episode 3: Steph Stretch
Episode 3: Steph Stretch

Housing + Local Politics

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Episode 2: Mike Morrice
Episode 2: Mike Morrice

Federal Politics and Housing

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Episode 1: Laura Mae Lindo
Episode 1: Laura Mae Lindo
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Blog
Let’s Speak Truth to Power
Let’s Speak Truth to Power

Please add your voice to tell your local municipal leaders that you appreciate their stand in support of the Charter of Human Rights. Tell your mayor and council: “Do not trample over the human rights of our neighbours. There is a better way.”  Here’s a link to send that message:

Let's Rethink the Decision on Consumption and Treatment Sites: An Open Letter to the Premier of Ontario
Let's Rethink the Decision on Consumption and Treatment Sites: An Open Letter to the Premier of Ontario

Dear Premier Ford,

During the Pandemic you and your colleagues followed the research and lead from the front – not from the politicized sidelines. We need you to follow the research now.

‘Word on the street’ two potentially fatal overdoses were reversed at the CTS in Kitchener in a span of only five hours this week alone. If the facility was closed, and the proposed HART Hub precluded supervised consumption with wrap around services – including wound care, mental health supports, and referral to recovery services – those two people would likely have died, alone. 

Please reverse the decision to close all CTS in the Province of Ontario.

Grants for Affordable and Supportive Housing Outreach totals $265, 000 since June 2023
Grants for Affordable and Supportive Housing Outreach totals $265, 000 since June 2023

It has been almost three years since the beginning of Trinity’s partnership with the Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF) and what a successful and mutually beneficial partnership it has been! In that time, Cathy Baer and Barb Hill have volunteered on the WRCF’s Community Grants committee, John Fraser has volunteered on WRCF’s Financial Review committee and Dave Rutherford has volunteered on the Due Diligence committee. Trinity United Church has featured prominently in WRCF’s press releases.

We are Witnessing a Humanitarian Crisis in Encampments: an Open Letter to Legislators
We are Witnessing a Humanitarian Crisis in Encampments: an Open Letter to Legislators
Hope for Ending Homelessness in Waterloo Region: A Community Dialogue
Hope for Ending Homelessness in Waterloo Region: A Community Dialogue

Saturday, March 9th • 4:00-6:00 pm

Ray of Hope • 659 King St. E

Entrance at back of building off Stirling Lane

Free and open to the public

More and more people in our community can't access housing.

If this concerns you, join us for a community dialogue; bringing together service organizations, developers, individuals with lived expertise, political representatives, and members of the public, to explore the issues and systemic solutions.

Responding to the Housing Crisis
Responding to the Housing Crisis

read Katherine Bitzer’s presentation at the Sunday Worship service on January 21, 2024

Winter Is Coming: Season 2
Winter Is Coming: Season 2

As winter continues to rear it's head many of our neighbours are struggling more than ever with housing. Your Trinity U.C. and The Hub Digital Ministry team is ready to launch Season 2 of our Affordable Housing Podcast "Winter is Coming".

THE HOUSING CRISIS – MORE THAN A ROOF OVERHEAD
THE HOUSING CRISIS – MORE THAN A ROOF OVERHEAD
Christmas Gift to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region
Christmas Gift to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region
Thank you card from Sanguen staff
Thank you card from Sanguen staff
Thank you from OneROOF Youth Services!
Thank you from OneROOF Youth Services!
Thank you from SASCWR
Thank you from SASCWR
Thank You for Seeing the Value of SHOW's Life Skills Coordinator
Thank You for Seeing the Value of SHOW's Life Skills Coordinator
Trinity Announces Recipients of Affordable Housing Grants
Trinity Announces Recipients of Affordable Housing Grants
40 local charitable organizations receive approximately $1 Million in grants through WRCF
Introducing Housing Champions
Introducing Housing Champions
Waterloo Region Home Share
Waterloo Region Home Share

Our ongoing commitment

Our Ad Hoc Affordable Housing Committee helped focus our mission on supportive affordable housing initiatives.

During 2021 $200,000 was distributed among five local agencies to assist in their work in this area.

Resources

Region of Waterloo (ROW)

KWCF (Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation

  • Vital Signs® is a community-driven data program that is led nationally by Community Foundations of Canada, and locally by community foundations across Canada – including Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation (KWCF).

  • Housing Innovation Roundtable Report

Indwell Projects: St. Mark's & St. Peter's

 

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