Rent Real EstateHomegrown Solutions" Deadline Looms
August 14, 2000 is the deadline for Homegrown Solutions grants of up to CN$20,0000. Canadians who see a housing need but don"t quite know how to meet it may find Homegrown funds are the catalyst to develop an idea or a dream into a housing reality.
Rural and urban community groups across Canada are eligible for this funding program that is designed to help "identify strategies and solutions to respond to local housing need.." Homegrown Solutions encourages Canadian communities to carry out housing demonstrations and share lessons learned in "how to" reports.
This Canadian program is a joint initiative of:
Canadian Housing and Renewal Association,
Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada,
Canadian Home Builders" Association,
Federation of Canadian Municipalities and,
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the federal agency which is as close to a national housing department as Canada gets.
Since its creation in 1996, Homegrown Solutions has funded 48
community-based organizations and 21 have since completed their
demonstration projects and "how-to" documents. According to Homegrown
Solutions, local initiatives have produced or rehabilitated a total of
212 homes in 12 communities across Canada. Other projects have developed
new financing models and are establishing trust funds to sustain ongoing
local activities in 5 communities.
A National Selection Committee will identify proposals that best meet
the Homegrown objectives and award grants of CN$1,000 to enable the
groups involved to develop more detailed proposals and work plans for
submission in September 2000. Once a group receives their full grant
(maximum CN$20,000), it has up to 2 years to put ideas in action and
create the "how to" report.
If your organization is interested, simply send Homegrown Solutions a
letter (no more than 4 pages long) with details that include:
a clear, concise description of the idea, housing need it
addresses and why it will work
who will benefit and how they will be involved
how the project will be relevant to other communities
team members, resources and sponsoring/supporting organizations
How Homegrown can help:
One CN$20,000 Homegrown Solutions grant was awarded to the City of
Nepean, an Ontario community near Ottawa, that is committed to building
affordable housing without government funding. This grant enables the
municipality to prepare an affordable rental housing plan for 4 of the
40 acres it set aside for a Sustainable Neighbourhood Demonstration
Project. The plan, designed for implementation by private sector
builders and developers, "incorporates sustainability features such as
stormwater management, landscape bio-diversity and innovative building
types including the integration of commercial operations."
If you see a need for housing in your community and don"t know where to
start, try Homegrown Solutions to see what ideas other groups and
neighbourhoods have come up with.
For more information:
Homegrown Solutions, c/o Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, Ottawa - Phone 613-722-0110 or email info@hgrown.org
Nepean Housing Corporation, Ontario - Phone 513-727-6700 x 347 or email lynn.carson@city.nepean.on.ca