A business case for helping the homeless
Whitehorse landlords and anti-poverty advocates team up to keep people off the streets
The closure of Yellowknife's day shelter last month was widely criticized by residents and politicians. With the territorial government currently planning to re-open a new facility in September, Yellowknifer decided to investigate some innovative measures several cities across North America are taking to combat homelessness and addictions. This is the third and final story in a three-part series entitled Street Solutions.
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, July 9, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
There aren't many landlords who will jump at the chance to house tenants on social assistance.
A street person hangs out in an alley behind 2nd Avenue in Whitehorse last September. A new program spearheaded by a local non-proft is trying to ensure that people on social assistance are able to get into market housing. - Jesse Winter photo |
But a new program intended to link property managers with "high-risk" clients in the neighbouring capital city of Whitehorse is showing there is a business case to be made for keeping people off the streets.
Related:
Tiny home, big support
Like many communities across the North, Whitehorse has a high cost of living, especially when it comes to rent. According to the Yukon Bureau of Statistics, median rent in the territory's capital has jumped by 18.6 per cent to $900 since 2009.
Meanwhile, low vacancy rates mean that it is difficult for lower income individuals and families to find available units.
Last month's announcement that the Yukon Housing Corporation would be cancelling a $13-million affordable housing plan has only added to the frustrations of homelessness advocates in the capital.
"There's been an acknowledgment that we have a housing issue or crisis on our hands," said Patricia Bacon, executive director of local non-governmental organization (NGO), Blood Ties Four Directions Centre.
As an NGO that focuses on helping people with HIV and hepatitis, Blood Ties has many clients with addictions issues and a history of homelessness. Many of those clients also depend on social assistance to pay for housing. Because social assistance is not a guaranteed source of income, Bacon said those who rely on it are often seen by landlords as a financial liability. As a result it can be particularly difficult for them to find somewhere to live.
"Housing is one of the most significant things going in these people's lives," said Bacon.
"For many of them, it's their most pressing need."
Last year, based on the lack of housing options in Whitehorse, Blood Ties decided to spearhead a program called Landlords Working to End Homelessness (LWEH ) to help their clients get into market rental units.
Rather than leaving people on social assistance to fend for themselves, Blood Ties decided to approach landlords with an offer to rent out several units on behalf of some of its most vulnerable clients. Instead of being paid directly to the landlord, the client's social assistance payments go toward reimbursing Blood Ties for the cost of the apartment, according to Bacon.
What makes the deal so attractive for all parties is that should any clients be evicted, the organization can simply find others to replace them. This ensures there are units for those who need them while the landlord's bills continue to get paid.
Sonny Gray is the CEO of Gray Management Services, which manages several condominium and apartment complexes in Whitehorse, including one of the city's low income projects.
He is one of two landlords signed up for the program and currently has three tenants who are receiving assistance through LWEH.
"As a property manager, it's a really good setup in the sense that you have a guaranteed unit rented, rent is always coming in on the first, and the security deposit is paid in full," he said.
Gray said he didn't even tell the property's Vancouver-based owners that he was signing up for the program until after the fact. As soon as he let them know they were guaranteed revenue through the program, they were satisfied.
"They said, 'Fine, if it's working, keep doing what you're doing,'" he said.
Before he started a property management business six years ago, Gray said he spent three years working in a group home where he helped people with fetal alcohol syndrome. While being a partner with LWEH provides his company with a financial incentive to house people on social assistance, Gray said social housing is a cause that is dear to his heart.
"I've got four kids that are growing up in the Yukon. It's small enough that they notice (things). You see people on the streets and often it's the same guys, but those people don't need to be there," he said.
"It's just an investment into the community, really."
On top of paying the damage deposit and guaranteeing the rent for tenants, Bacon said Blood Ties also acts as a third party on the rental agreement. As such, it acts as a mediator in case a conflict arises between the tenant and landlord.
"We have a three-way agreement so the landlord knows that the tenant is high risk, but works with us," said Bacon.
"So, if and when trouble arises around the tenant being successfully housed, the landlord - instead of immediately evicting them - calls us and we'll work with the tenant to set things right."
Since the program was launched six months ago, LWEH has helped find housing for six of its clients.
"Which isn't tonnes, but it's actually a lot for the size of our community and the fact that there's very little affordable housing," said Bacon.
Hannah Zimmering is the organization's housing navigator for LWEH and acts as the de facto case manager and counsellor for all six of the program's clients. In the six months since LWEH has started, she said there has only been one instance where she has had to intervene to prevent an eviction.
"After talking it over with Sonny and the tenant, we were able to deal with it," Zimmering said, adding if there was any damage to a unit, those costs would be covered by Blood Ties.
Gray said he has only had to evict one person from his low-income property in the past year.
One of the reasons why there may be relatively few evictions at the property may be because Gray has hired security guards to patrol it. Gray said he founded one of the largest security companies in Whitehorse two years before he branched out into property management. That experience taught him a valuable lesson about the value of security when it comes to being a landlord.
"As a property manager and coming from a security background, I realized really quickly that a lot of stuff happens at night when you're not on site," he said.
Gray said the security guards simply patrol the hallways and the areas outside the building and will knock on doors if there is a disturbance. If a disturbance escalates, they call the RCMP. They also provide reports which can be used in court cases and rental board hearings.
Although they come at an additional cost, Gray said the service provided is worth the investment.
"Individual apartments won't pay for it because they don't see the qualities that come with it," he said. "I never have any problems with properties I manage because I send my own guys out there to do the work."
Zimmering said she meets with each of her clients on a regular basis. How often that is can vary depending on their individual needs.
"Sometimes that can be almost every day, and other times it can be once a week or once every other week," she said, adding she also assists Blood Ties clients not signed up through LWEH but living in the same apartment complexes it rents from.
Zimmering also meets with the landlords on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. Gray said being able to keep open lines of communication with tenants through Blood Ties is beneficial for everyone.
"These people are going through their own issues. Sometimes they need a break, sometimes they need someone to come and explain to them what they're doing is inappropriate, or they're off their meds. There's a tonne of issues involved," said Gray.
"Our endgame should be to support them and not evict them."
As a property manager, Gray said he would like to see the program expanded. However, with her existing workload, Zimmering does not have the ability to take on more clients and Blood Ties does not have the funding to hire another housing navigator.
Zimmering added Blood Ties is currently collecting data to show there are tangible benefits to the program, but did not know when that information would be available.
Gray said when information becomes available, he would like to help Blood Ties bring their findings forward to the Yukon government.
"I've actually told the NGOs that the next time you go in to have a chat with the government to give me a call. It might be worthwhile to have the private sector sitting in on those meetings to say, 'You know what? You better not cut the funding for this because it's working, and if you do cut the funds, it won't be the NGOs that will go screaming to the media - it will be us," he said.
Mary Cameron, acting vice-president of the Yukon Housing Corporation, said the corporation is currently putting together a housing action plan, and that LWEH is on its radar.
"There's a lot of potential with what they started," she said, adding the plan should be coming up for approval later this fall.
In the meantime, Gray said he is on the hunt for properties in Whitehorse he can convert into low-income apartments.
He is also lobbying businesses to sponsor a 16-plot community garden for the low income property he manages. Gray said he hoped building the garden would give an opportunity for tenants to grow food they otherwise can't afford. It would also be a way for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts to rehabilitate themselves.
"We have to figure something out because the government's not moving fast enough and the NGOs' hands are tied because they can only do
so much lobbying - their money is coming from the government," he said.
Although the LWEH program is small, and Gray is just one out of many property managers in Whitehorse, he said he hopes to prove the private sector can make a difference while turning a profit.
"We live in really small communities and it doesn't take long for people to talk about the things that you're accomplishing as a company," he said.
"It's beneficial on all fronts. There's no negative impact in any way, shape or form to sticking your neck out and trying to do this ... It's literally a lead by example case."
Tiny home, big support
Recognizing market rental units would not be able to meet the needs of the people it serves, the Blood Ties Four Directions Centre has decided to get into the housing business - albeit on a "tiny" scale.
In 2012 Blood Ties Four Directions Centre's built a tiny home to be used as a transitional home for its clients. The home cost $15,000 to build and has been used to house a total of three clients since it was built. - photo courtesy of Patricia Bacon/Blood Ties Four Directions Centre |
With the increasing popularity of the "tiny homes" movement, Patricia Bacon, executive director of local non-governmental organization Blood Ties Four Directions Centre, said the organization saw the opportunity to build a unit to house one of its clients.
While the costs associated with building a tiny home are nowhere near as high as your average dwelling, Blood Ties did not have enough funding to cover the costs of building one.
So the organization petitioned the local business community to contribute to the project. In the end, the architectural designs, contracting work and the majority of the building materials were all donated.
"People were really excited to get behind that project," she said.
The property on which the house was built was also donated by a local architectural firm, which rents it out to Blood Ties for free on a year-to-year basis.
Thanks to the contributions of local businesses, building the home in downtown Whitehorse only cost Blood Ties about $15,000.
The home now serves as a transitional residence for single clients for anywhere between three months to a year. On June 1, Blood Ties moved its third tenant into the home.
