Home is where you belong. More than simply a place to sleep, it’s where you have privacy, where you can relax, where you feel comfortable and safe.
Too many people don’t experience home. Instead, on any given night about 35,000 Canadians experience homelessness. We sometimes notice people hunched in doorways and alleys or sleeping in tents. Less noticeable are the people staying in emergency shelters or couch surfing. Then there are many more people who don’t show up in official homelessness statistics – people whose economic or housing situation is precarious or whose housing does not meet public health or safety standards (many rooming houses, for example). Homelessness is about more than a place to sleep; it’s about a lack of housing security.
Regardless of the reasons people experience homelessness, it’s unhealthy, unsafe and demeaning. Most at risk are single adult men, people with mental health issues, people with addictions, women with children fleeing violence, and Indigenous people.
The shelter allowance for people who receive the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) is $497, and for people who receive Ontario Works is $390. Compare this to $1,180, which is the average rent for an apartment in Ontario (CMHC, 2019). No wonder there are more than 170,000 households in Ontario on social housing waiting lists.
Thankfully, this is a solvable problem. And Indwell is one of the solutions!
Indwell provides people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless with affordable homes. Equally important, Indwell provides tenants with community and health supports that increase the likelihood of success in maintaining stable housing and pursuing their health and wellness goals.
This isn’t charity. It’s simply the right thing to do. It’s taking seriously Jesus’ call to love our neighbours as ourselves. It’s recognizing that we’re all worthy of the dignity of a place in which we can feel comfortable and safe, a place in which we can dare to hope for a better future.
Thank you for being a part of the Indwell solution. Thank you for offering others the gift of a home.
