10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan refresh - thank you for engaging!
Thank you to everyone who joined us last month for some deep discussions on the refresh of the 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan. With over 120 leaders from the housing and homelessness sectors attending over 2 days, together, we delved into important questions like:
- What does it take to talk about the future honestly?
- What does accountability look like for the sector and for the city?
- What will success look like, and how can your organization connect to the work ahead?
We appreciate your openness and honesty. These conversations will guide us toward a renewed shared vision and the solutions that will help us ensure that everyone has a home, that people get the support they need, and that we work together.
What's next?
- Natalie and Blue from Connect2Knowledge will prepare a summary report from the two sessions that we’ll share with you later this summer.
- HHLT members will continue to connect through existing channels – advisory groups, networks, and coalitions. They’ll share information and keep this conversation going.
- We will continue to engage over the coming months as we refine the vision from the goals and priorities we discussed together down to the objectives, actions and measures that will turn the vision into a plan. You’ll hear about upcoming engagement opportunities through our newsletter and from HHLT members.
Thanks again to Natalie and Blue from Connect2Knowledge, and to FoodWorks for the amazing lunch.
City launches HHLT
Clara Freire, General Manager of Community and Social Services Department, sent the following memo to the Mayor and members of Council last week. This week, all members of Council have been invited to a briefing on the HHLT by co-chairs Kale Brown, Director of Housing, and Kaite Burkholder Harris, the Executive Director of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa.
Purpose
This memo outlines the purpose and scope of the newly launched Housing and Homelessness Leadership Table (HHLT). The HHLT functions as a department-led working group, which is an advisory body established by the General Manager of Community and Social Services to provide valuable input to support the City’s strategic priorities. Investing in services that affect the lives of all residents, including those most in need, to create a city that has affordable housing and is more liveable for all is a Term of Council Strategic priority. The HHLT will work in tandem with other department-led working groups, such as the newly introduced Housing Innovation Taskforce, as well as other sector-led initiatives to meet the goals of the City of Ottawa’s Strategic Plan 2023-2026 and the 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan. The HHLT is composed of leaders within Ottawa’s Housing and Homelessness sector, as well as City staff.
Background
In 2022, the City of Ottawa’s Housing and Homelessness Services underwent a re-evaluation of its relationship with external partners. The re-evaluation included consultations consisting of 25 in-depth interviews and an online survey completed by 150 key stakeholders in the local housing and homelessness sector. The result of this work was the establishment of an 18-member Housing and Homelessness Leadership Table (HHLT), which replaced the former Housing Systems Working Group (HSWG).
The HHLT includes diverse representation from sectors including youth, justice, newcomer support, community health, gender-based violence, and housing and homelessness. Additionally, the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition, Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH), Ottawa Community Housing, and Ottawa Social Housing Network have a seat at the table. The HHLT is co-chaired by the Executive Director of the Ottawa ATEH and the City of Ottawa’s Director of Housing and Homelessness Services. For a complete list of HHLT members, refer to Appendix A.
The mission of the HHLT is “to plan, design, and oversee the ongoing implementation of an integrated housing and homelessness system and related sectors to deliver affordable, suitable, and adequate housing choices and reductions in homelessness.” The HHLT will play an important role in developing and delivering housing and homelessness initiatives in Ottawa. While City staff will continue to fulfill their responsibilities as the legislated Service Manager for Housing and Homelessness, the HHLT will provide cross-sectoral guidance that ensures sector alignment, collaboration, and accountability.
The HHLT’s approach is grounded in co-design, lived experience leadership, a systems-based approach, data-driven decision-making, and nimble responses to emerging needs. Its guiding principles include collaborative design, open communication, inclusive representation, efficiency, leadership from lived experiences, transparency, and data-informed decision making.
Key responsibilities of the HHLT include:
- Governance Structure Development and Implementation, including the development and implementation of a cohesive governance structure across Ottawa’s housing and homelessness sector. This governance structure will connect existing efforts and working groups with the HHLT’s sector-wide strategy for ending homelessness, in alignment with the 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan and Indigenous Housing and Homelessness Strategy. The new governance framework will uphold transparency and accountability in decision-making, serving the interests of all stakeholders.
- 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan Development and Implementation, ensuring community-wide engagement, and developing buy-in. It will co-design an annual review to recommend priorities for funding and resources.
- Systems Based Approach Implementation, including the ongoing design and coordination of the housing and homelessness serving sector, using data to drive decisions in alignment with the 10-Year Plan and Indigenous Housing and Homelessness Strategy.
Time-limited working groups composed of HHLT members may be convened as needed to support the work of the HHLT.
Next Steps
The launch of the HHLT is currently underway. Over the next few months, the co-chairs will update the Mayor and Council on the HHLT’s role and activities, including those related to the 10Year Housing and Homelessness Plan. They will also meet directly with Councillors who sit on relevant committees including the Planning and Housing Committee and the Community Services Committee.
Additionally, the co-chairs are working with HHLT members to launch this initiative more broadly with sector partners and the public. This includes two engagement events which took place in May when the HHLT hosted sessions with sector leadership to begin their work on the codevelopment of the 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan.