The intersections of being LGBTQ+ and living on the streets
As we close season 3, we’re joined by Rev. Evan Smith. Evan shares his story of living on the streets of Toronto, the homeless community who supported them, and what it was like to watch the abandoned building you were living be torn down while your belongings were still inside. Evan also shares how the intersection of LGBTQIA+ youth and homelessness could keep rising if we don’t stand firmly against discrimination in the years ahead.
SHOW & the need for Federal Social Housing
This week we’re joined by Brian Paul who shares the amazing work being done by his team at Supportive Housing of Waterloo (SHOW). Brian chats about the need for the federal government to help dispel myths about homelessness, and to return to being in the business of creating social housing stock to create more affordable housing across the country.
A Better Tent City
This week we break down the story of one of the shining examples of Housing Justice in KW. Former city planner Jeff Willmer shares the history of A Better Tent City, and how this self-organized tiny home community came to be as an independent and grassroots response to homelessness in the city. Jeff shares how a few ordinary citizens took an idea; some land and an unwillingness to settle for the status quo and became a model for housing justice that has already started to be replicated in other parts of the province.
Tiny Homes, Relationships + Restorative Justice
This week we’re joined by Jay Straus the Transitional Housing Lead at the Working Centre and Site Lead for the Tiny Home Shelter on Erb’s Road, Waterloo. Jay shares his own personal experiences of being homeless, and how he came to the be with The Working Centre. He also shares how ‘The Cabins’ transitions 20% of their residents to more permanent housing, and how they navigate conflict with neighbours and what restorative justice means in the context of the community.
Faith, Harm Reduction & Housing Justice
As we begin the second half of season 3 Rev. Michiko Bown-Kai joins us to chat about the role of faith and justice, and unpacks how churches can engage with politics by understanding it as “how we order our relationships”. Michiko also shares their insights on harm reduction and where we go next in a province that seems to be moving backwards when it comes to confronting the drug poisoning crisis.
Busting myths about CTS Sites + Addiction
As we begin the final 5 episodes of season 3, we invite Gemma Ricker to return after her first episode in season 1 to expand on what it looks like to evolve our understanding of addiction, safe supply and to bust a few myths about CTS sites. Gemma offers the perspective of a "regular, everyday citizen" in the two years since she has left front-line work and gives us a roadmap for how we can advocate and make positive change for our neighbours when we're not in the field of housing or housing supports.
Innovating how we help people
As season 3 of the Winter is Coming: A Housing Justice Podcast continues we sit down with Tony D'Amato Stortz, Author of "A Home of their Own: A Guide to Building a Tiny Homes Community", and principal founder of Better Street, whose team has launched 143 Tiny Homes in the past year. Tony shares his candid thoughts on how empathy and helping people can meet innovation not just in the tiny home communities he's helped to form, but in how we reach residents who are resistant to shelters and emergency housing in their neighbourhoods. We also chat about how to improve the national conversation heading into a double election year in Ontario.
Why destroying encampments and closing CTS sites will never work
This week Waterloo Regional Councilor and former mayor Rob Deutschmann joins Adam to give his perspective on the use of lawsuits against encampments and the Ford government wielding legislative power to attack people in poverty instead of attacking poverty itself. Rob also talks about why he won’t join those who call for the destruction of more encampments, and why Doug Ford’s decision to shut down consumption sites make neighborhoods less safe, and healthcare weaker.
Who is profiting off homelessness?
In part 2 of Adam's conversation with David Alton of SDCC we dig deeper into what it means to re-frame our ideas of 'risk', and what allyship can look like by challenging unjust housing systems. David also challenges us to think about who is profiting from homelessness and why they think waterloo region just might be exceptional in its approach to housing.
Why can’t big tech companies fix housing?
As we kick off season 3 Adam is joined by David Alton of Social Development Centre of Waterloo region. In Part 1 of our 2-part conversation, David shares their experiences as a facilitator of lived expertise for SDCC going from working on housing in a city like Toronto with the backing of google, to transitioning to grassroots work and emphasizing community dialogue and lived expertise. David shares their insight on what the wealth and influence of a big tech company can’t do and why corporate top-down approaches won’t work without real community engagement.
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
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.
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.
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.
Episode 9: Joe Mancini
Antidotes to Bureaucracy and the Success of a Shelter with no Rules
