Housing Paper on soliciting funding from Provincial government by Mary Wills

8/12/2019 Housing Paper on soliciting funding from Provincial government by Mary Wills

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Paper for soliciting funds from the government

GOAL

The purpose of this paper is to present reasons why urban Aboriginal housing issues are

unique and require a larger commitment in the funding regimen, in comparison to thefunding non Aboriginal housing initiatives receive. To support this bid for more funding

dollars, data collected from the !! "ensus will be used, as well as historical data,

briefly commenting on the colonial history of "anada and how the policies of the"anadian government, helped to entrench institutionali#ed racism. This in turn has had a

tremendous effect on all Aboriginal peoples across "anada. To bring these issues much

closer to home, the paper will draw comparisons on how these policies have had an

impact on our tenants, and how to this day, still continue to affect our tenants.

$%& T%' ()*"O++'"T

Government policies developed to aid in alleviating and eliminating the obstaclesAboriginal people face, have always been a hit or miss process. $hile some policies do

actually provide much needed help, they often fall victim to lac of funding, while theones that do not have as positive an effect, continue to operate regardless of outcome, or

are morphed into another implementation scenario, to eep the fledging e-isting policy

afloat, regardless of criticism. *ocial policy formation for the Aboriginal community,whether it be on reserve or off reserve, has always had problems in understanding what

the issue is, and how policy outcomes should be achieved. Government funded proects

mae these mistaes for various reasons. *ome of these reasons are/

(1) Government funding agencies, working committees, etc. are not aware or

understand Aboriginal issues.

(2) These levels of government and working committees are not familiar with the

history of Aboriginal eoles.

(!) There is much unfamiliarity with the cultural asects of what it means to be

Aboriginal.

(") #gnorance and #ndifference

($) %unding agencies and working committees make mistakes in assuming that

Aboriginal issues are the same as non Aboriginal issues. The following two reasons

have to do with institutional and ersonal bias or hate.

(&) #nstitutionali'ed racism is nothing new, and it is a constant struggle to combat it.

hile there maybe legislation to revent this, old attitudes have a tendency to die a

very long and hard death.


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() hen it comes to ersonal bias or re*udice, it is a bit more difficult. hile

most eole will not admit that they have re*udices against certain eole, because

it is ublically frowned uon, it does not mean that those who harbour such

re*udice will not try and imose their bias in the worklace and in their rivate

lives.

+ow while these issues are very important, this paper is not about trying to come up with

the solutions to solve these problems, but as an Aboriginal organi#ation, we in fact dealwith these issues on a regular basis. This is especially true when trying to apply for

additional funding, and when our organi#ation attempts to collaborate with government

departments, agencies, or woring committees, who are not as informed about Aboriginal

issues as they should be or claim to be.

0'A*12)+G P2OG2'**

)n order to understand some of the effects of the misguided policies forced uponAboriginal people, the first thin to do is to reveal some realities on being Aboriginal, by

using comparative facts in relation to the non Aboriginal population in "anada. To start,

a well being inde- will be e-plored on the ability of Aboriginals to achieve a minimumstandard of living and personal well being, in comparison to the non Aboriginal

population. The "ommunity $ell 3eing )nde- 4"$35 was created to measure and

compare groups of people on their ability to meet basic shelter and living needs, and the

relative happiness or satisfaction that produces an emotional by product of this process.%appiness or satisfaction acts as an indicator of the resulting outcome on one6s ability to

meet these needs. )n the end these indicators will be used as a comparison to gage the

standard of living between Aboriginal people and the general non Aboriginal public. The4"$35 inde- was developed on the same premise as the %uman (evelopment )nde-

4%()5, which was initiated by the 1nited +ations to measure socio7economic well being

for groups of people in today6s global society. The 4"$35 was formed to measure thewell being of 8irst +ations "ommunities. +ow while this inde- focuses mainly on

reserve Aboriginals, urban Aboriginals have similar concerns and comparable obstacles

as Aboriginals who live on reserve. )n fact later on in this paper, it will become clear that

on and off reserve issues are very much alie but dealt with in different ways. The inde-measurement began in !!9 and used the information provided by the !!9 "ensus and

the Aboriginal Peoples *urvey, which was a part of the :;; "ensus. The information

was analy#ed to determine which Aboriginal communities were prosperous, thus usingthe communities6 methods as a model to help other Aboriginal communities achieve

prosperity, and identify Aboriginal communities who are at ris. 3y doing this the hope is

that immediate action would tae place to prevent the downward slide of a socio7economic crises.


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8)+()+G*

The outcome from the data in the "ommunity $ell 3eing )nde- 4"$35 has some

significant conclusions. The disparity in the well being of Aboriginals in comparison to

non Aboriginals is quite high. Aboriginal people are at the lower end of the well beingscale while non Aboriginals are primarily at the top. One Aboriginal community out of

;; communities raned in this inde-, is at the top end of the inde-. %owever, !:

Aboriginal communities are raned in the lower portion of the inde-. According to theAboriginal People6s *urvey in :;;, nearly One of the most important elements of people6s sense of well being is access to goodquality housing.@ 4"anada, !!C5 %ousing is the core need that maes everything else

fall into place. Life is ne-t to impossible without four walls and a roof over your head.

Tawaa %ousing is a non profit, Aboriginal social housing organi#ation, whose mainpurpose is to provide urban housing for Aboriginal people, who cannot afford housing in

an urban setting. This provision is available for Aboriginals who otherwise would not be

able to obtain housing in the non Aboriginal maret.


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A3O1T O12 O2GA+)DAT)O+

Tawaa %ousing has a total of B! units staggered over the province of +ova *cotia.The maority of our properties are located in the %alifa- 2egional 0unicipality 4%205

with properties also in Truro, 3ridgewater, Liverpool, *ydney and Antigonish. Tawaa

%ousing is the only off reserve Aboriginal housing organi#ation in all of +ova *cotia.Among our properties in the %20, we also have two supportive housing buildings. One

located in %alifa-, the other in (artmouth. The building in %alifa- has a total of four,

two bedroom units, and two, one bedroom units, and the building in (artmouth has fivetwo bedroom units and one, one bedroom unit. *tarting in :;;, Tawaa6s supportive

housing offers monitored, emergency housing to the homeless, those with addiction

problems, and families in distress. The buildings are secure with a :B hour monitoring

system. 3oth buildings are alcohol, drug and tobacco free. Our tenant counselor, )daEincent, does frequent inspections of all the units, to mae sure that the clients are

abiding by what is e-pected of them, and to provide support and referrals to various

organi#ations and agencies, when required. 'ach unit is fully furnished, including all

necessary materials to ensure a semblance of normalcy in apartment style living. (ue tolac of funding at the moment, Tawaa %ousing in the future, would lie to employ

onsite live in counselors to provide the necessary outreach to ensure our supportivehousing6s continued success. "lients stay within the supportive housing environment

from si- months to a year, whereby they are encouraged to see accommodations within

the regular rental scheme, provided by Tawaa.

T%' "%ALL'+G'*

$hile intrinsically, all people want the same things, a home, career, healthy family and asense of security, for some sections of the human population, these needs are more

difficult to reali#e than others. 3eing Aboriginal in "anada, and in this case, in +ova

*cotia, is not an easy thing. )t is e-tremely difficult to feel pride and confidence in whoyou are, in the face of sometimes, e-treme and often negative adversity. (ifficult as this

maybe, it is not impossible to rise above the mire, especially if there are people and

organi#ations who are dedicated in supporting the vision of what it means to beAboriginal in the :stcentury.

One attribute of being Aboriginal, is the high mobility or migration rates practiced.

Traditionally, Aboriginals for the most part, are a migratory people. 3efore and after first

contact, Aboriginal people followed the seasonal migratory paths or animals and fish.*ettlements would vary depending upon the season and availability of game, berries and

other plants. )f food and materials were ample, summer and winter settlements were

sufficient. %owever, if resources were scarce, migration patterns would be morefrequent, to search for more adequate surroundings. Today, migration is still a big part of

Aboriginal life. $ith the establishment of permanent residence introduced by the

colonial "anadian government, in FC9 through the )ndian Act, the reservation was born.0ost reservations were small acreages, located most times, far from maor urban centres,

with very little or no agricultural or raw resource value. Today, not much has changed.

$ith the e-ception of a handful of reserves who were unwittingly placed on top of vast

oil and gas deposits, most reserves have little or inadequate infrastructure, no higher


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educational or training centres, no industry, no obs, and are still located far from maor

urban centres in "anada. Life in Aboriginal communities has always been challenging in

and present conditions across "anada and in +ova *cotia, have proved little haschanged.. 0any Aboriginals have to leave their communities to see higher education

and ob opportunities, to escape sometimes grinding poverty, or to find safe, peaceful

surroundings against a bacdrop of severe social problems. Aboriginals who live onreserves, migrate more frequently than non Aboriginals. )n !!F :!= of the Aboriginal

registered population, lived off reserve. H2egistered means a status )ndian under the

)ndian Act. +on registered is a non status )ndian. The difference being having statusmaes one eligible for programs, housing and health care benefits, associated with being

affiliated with an Aboriginal community 4reserve5, on a hereditary basis, that is

recogni#ed by the federal government of "anada.I )n !!


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purchasing power in achieving the economies of scale, that is available to larger social

housing initiatives.

The Aboriginal population is the largest growing demographic in "anada. $ith


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eep our clients housed as long as possible, while at the same time, operating within the

finite limits of solvent business practices.

"O+"L1*)O+

Tawaa %ousing has been in the business of providing off reserve housing to Aboriginals

for over J! years. The idea of social housing for those who cannot afford the high cost of

maret valued housing has been a long time coming for everyone, not ust Aboriginals. )tis Tawaa %ousing6s hope that in the spirit of the advent of the social housing movement,

that it can secure its successful longevity, in providing urban housing for "anada6s and

+ova *cotia6s growing Aboriginal population. Tawaa %ousing6s clients are in a unique

position that requires, as the previous facts point to, a more committed approach thatrequires both fiscal support and political will. )t is hoped that Tawaa %ousing will be

given the opportunity to build new relationships with the organi#ation6s e-isting partners,

to provide the necessary outcomes, that will benefit both parties in meeting their goals,

ust as the 0i6maq did 9;; hundred years ago, when they offered their hands to theirbrothers and sisters from across the Atlantic, in peace and in friendship.

Housing Paper on soliciting funding from Provincial government by Mary Wills

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Transcript of Housing Paper on soliciting funding from Provincial government by Mary Wills