
Remote options for LEAP and OESP applications are still available. Navigators are available onsite on Mon (2-5pm), Tues. (12 - 3:30pm), Wed. (2-5pm), & Fri. (2-5pm). To meet with a Navigator in our Advocacy Office, we are still requiring masks. If that is not possible, please contact us and we can arrange an alternative space or remote option.
The Community Advocacy Office is located downstairs at The Table on the same floor as the Good Food Bank. The office is run by community members with lived experience of living on low-incomes and navigating government programs and other resources in our local area.
Community Navigators are available to offer resources, referrals, and support on a wide array of issues from applying for help with utility bills, to replacing lost identification, to helping fill out paperwork, to conducting a housing search, to discussing your options in a difficult situation. The office is open to all community members and no appointment is needed.
In some cases, your interaction with us may be like asking for directions, and just need to be pointed in the right direction. In other cases, it may be more like visiting an information centre when arriving at a new place, where you have some understanding of what your needs are, but may need some more detailed conversations and perhaps a map or two to figure out where you need to go.
In other cases, you may be dealing with a more complex situation, or be stuck waiting for the help you need, and you may find us helpful as companions on your journey to help read the map, check in regularly, and maybe make some calls on your behalf while you focus on the road ahead.
No matter what, you are the one in the “driver’s seat”. We are here to help you get where you’re going.
Monday, 2 - 5pm; Tuesday, 12 - 3:30pm; Wednesday, 2 - 5pm; Friday, 2 - 5pm
613-267-6428 x111, advocacy@thetablecfc.org
In consultation with Victims Services, the Community Advocacy Office has put together the following resource on rental fraud. In this document, you will learn about some common types of rental fraud and information about who to call if you believe you are a victim of rental fraud. If you have more questions or would like to connect with a Community Advocate, please contact us at 613-267-6428 x29 or advocacy@thetablecfc.org
Rental Fraud & How to Avoid It
Rental fraud is more common than you might think. Financial fraud can exact a heavy emotional toll on its victims; common feelings include anger, regret, embarrassment, sadness, shame, guilt, confusion, depression, and stress. It is important to realize that the blame belongs to the perpetrator, not the victim. Here are some common scams, warning signs, and tips on how to avoid and deal with fraud.
7 Top Rental Housing Scams
#1 Phantom Rentals: An ad for a place that does not exist or is not for rent. Their goal is to get your money before you find out.
#2 Hijacked Ads: A fake landlord posts an ad for a real place, with altered contact information.
#3 Already Rented: A landlord uses an ad to collect deposits or application fees for a place already rented.
#4 Missing Amenities: An ad for a real place that lists amenities it does not have (to get a higher rent).
#5 Bait-and-Switch: The landlord tries to get you to sign a lease or collect a deposit for a different property than the one advertised.
#6 Suspicious Money Requests: You are asked to send money when you haven’t seen the apartment or met anyone, to pay an illegal security or holding deposit, a full year’s worth of rent, or other upfront fees.
#7 Identity Theft: An ad that is really a trick to get you to hand over confidential info such as a Social Insurance Number (SIN) or banking information.
Warning Signs
Who to Contact if you have been Victimized
Sources: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (Canada.ca); Rentboard.ca; Government of Canada, Competition Bureau Canada (Canada.ca); Student Life, University of Toronto (https://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/hs/housing-scams); Victims Services Ontario.
On Thursday, February 20th, The Table Community Food Centre hosted a housing forum in response to the current housing crisis with the aim to create housing solutions in Lanark County.
As a part of the next steps to addressing housing insecurity in Lanark County, the following report provides a summary of the forum as well as the committments made by participants to work together to overcome housing insecurity.
**Report is now available here: http://thetablecfc.org/article/creating-housing-solutions-report
Join us for an afternoon of workshops and discussions to create an actionable plan to ensure everyone has a safe and secure place to call home.Meet with representation from municipalities in Lanark County, community groups, youth organizations, women’s groups, housing providers, seniors, legal clinic, funding agencies and more.
1 - 5pm - workshops on tenant rights, alternative funding options, local housing initiatives and community advocacy.
5:30pm - 8pm - dinner, lessons learned, discussions & next steps
This forum is made possible with the funding support of the Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative (CHPI) 2019 grant from Lanark County.
Workshops
1:00 – 1:45 pm Housing Issues and Options – An Evidence-Based Approach
Nelson Rogers, MSW, Ed.D. Robert Leitch, BLSc, M.Ed.
1:45 – 2:00 pm Community Bonds-What are they and how do they work?
Fraser Scantlebury, Regional Director, United Way East Ontario
2:00 – 2:15 pm How the Perth and District Community Foundation works to create funding for initiatives in our community.
Lynn McIntyre, Executive Director, Perth and District Community Foundation
2:15 – 3:00 pm Housing First: An initiative to address homelessness
Stephanie Manoni-Millar, University of Ottawa
3:00 – 4:00 pm Tenant’s Rights in Ontario
Linda Tranter, Staff Lawyer at the Legal Clinic in Perth
4:00 – 5:00 pm Affordable Housing Development 101
Graeme Hussey, President of Cahdco
*Please see below for more information about the workshops, presenters and participants.
Bios & Workshop Descriptions
Linda Tranter is the Staff Lawyer practicing anti-poverty law at the Legal Clinic since 2000. Previously Linda has worked as a lawyer at Keewaytinok Native Legal Services in Moosonee 1997 to 2000, a Refugee Lawyer in Toronto, a Refugee Support Worker and Advocate for Sojourn House, and a Developmental Services Worker.
Linda’s current position is at the legal clinic (which is distinct from legal aid) and provides free non-profit legal service for low income people in Lanark, Leeds, Grenville, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Counties.
As the staff lawyer her role is to advise and represent clients at the Landlord and Tenant Board, Social Benefits Tribunal, Social Security Tribunal of Canada, Criminal Injuries Compensation Board and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.
Today’s Workshop focuses on Tenant’s Rights in Ontario covering such topics as the duties of landlords and tenants, evictions, maintenance/repair issues, harassment and discrimination, rent-geared-to-income rules and homelessness prevention strategies. Know your rights and how to stay safe in your housing!
Graeme Hussey is the President of Cahdco, a non-profit real estate development corporation and sister to Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation (CCOC). Cahdco develops affordable housing and social purpose real estate and provides consulting in the Ottawa area. Cahdco combines the experience and resources of CCOC with a team of development, construction, and project management experts.
His topic will be “Affordable Housing Development 101”, or how to create and finance affordable rental housing. The presentation will include recent examples of projects Cahdco has completed.
Stephanie Manoni-Millar is a graduate student at the University of Ottawa working with Tim Aubrey (co-chair Housing First ON)
Housing First involves moving people experiencing homelessness —particularly people experiencing chronic homelessness—rapidly from the street or emergency shelters into stable and long-term housing, with supports. It is an approach that offers permanent, affordable housing as quickly as possible for individuals and families experiencing homelessness, and then provides the supportive services and connections to the community-based supports people need to keep their housing and avoid returning to homelessness.
Robert Leitch and Nelson Rogers, Community Transformation Associates, Inc.
Nelson Rogers is a researcher, consultant, and conference speaker in areas related to program review and strategic planning, community development, postsecondary education, and applied research and innovation, with particular expertise in rural contexts. Nelson previously worked at Algonquin College as a professor, research manager, director and dean.
Robert Leitch is an educator, business analyst, information scientist and foresight strategist with graduate degrees in Educational Technology, and Library and Information Science. Robert has demonstrated leadership in program and project innovation, including with the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s Financial Literacy program and the Lanark Communications Network - Canada’s first community-based rural broadband network.
Housing Issues and Options – An Evidence-Based Approach
Suitable housing must be: Appropriate, Accessible, Affordable, and Available. However, the “housing needs continuum” is complex – including homelessness, formal and informal temporary housing, supportive housing, market and social rental housing, various forms of home ownership and innovations in housing. Current demographic and economic trends in rural Eastern Ontario reveal that housing challenges will become more serious in the decade of the 2020s. Considering the complexity of issues related to housing, and the urgency of effective action on many fronts, data access and analysis to support evidence-based decision-making is extremely important.
The Big Data for Small Places (BD4SP) program is a data literacy and data utilization capacity-building process relevant to a variety of topics. It was designed to allow working groups to focus on a current issue and access a wide range of data-related resources to address a specific challenge. The program includes topics such as:
This workshop will discuss how the Big Data for Small Places approach could address the key issues and options relevant to housing in Lanark County and area.
Community Transformation Associates, Inc. (CTA-Inc) helps rural and small-town communities thrive and prosper through effective use of data, research, and knowledge mobilization.
Participating Organizations, Agencies & Community Partners
Please be sure to stop and speak with everyone who has come to make this dialogue possible. They are here to share their insights and to gather yours as well.
Community Representation
Agency Representation
Tanis Brown is a Registered Nurse & Health Equity Coordinator at the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit working with individuals and community service providers to promote awareness and advocate for health equity in the population, by identifying gaps and reducing barriers that support health and well-being for everyone.
We are a 24/7 agency that provides immediate, confidential, crisis intervention services, practical assistance, information, referrals and emotional support to persons affected by crime, tragedy and disaster.
Government
Land use planning means managing our land and resources. It helps each community to set goals about how it will develop and to work out ways of reaching those goals while keeping important social, economic and environmental concerns in mind. It balances the interests of individual property owners with the wider interests and objectives of the whole community.
Good planning leads to orderly growth and the efficient provision of services. It affects all of us and helps us to have the kind of community we want.
Join author Jay Sinha for an informative presentation and discussion on the issues of plastic pollution and how to move towards a life without plastic.