Hearing about housing for tenants is one thing but to drive home concerns in Guelph-Wellington an event for National Housing Day is being put on to hear from tenants and service providers.
The event is on Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Guelph Community Health Centre at 176 Wyndham St. It is hosted by the Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County and is free to attend.
The legal clinic hasn’t put on an event for National Housing Day in Guelph and Wellington County before, said Maddy Smith, community worker with the legal clinic. The thought behind it is often there are housing related events where politicians and service providers talk about housing. For this event it's about tenants sharing their experiences.
“It often feels like service providers and advocates do a lot of the speaking, and we want to have tenants and folks dealing with the housing crisis firsthand feel like they had an opportunity to kind of share their story and express themselves around it, instead of just being talked about or talked for,” said Smith.
There will be a TED Talks style speakers portion featuring people from Brant Avenue Tenant Association, the legal clinic, Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination, the Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition, Women In Crisis and Lorelei Root.
There will be a resource fair and attendees can ask speakers questions at the fair. A large canvas will be set up where people can write or draw on it.
The hope for the event is to give people a feeling that their voice matters and there is hope when it comes to housing with the services that are available.
“I think (as) of late, it feels very hopeless, and I think people are feeling very downtrodden. And there's a lot of pressure being put on people and put on the housing market,” said Smith.
With this event there will be an opportunity for people to tell their stories through a set up similar to the TV series Speakers Corner where people can talk into a camera to speak their mind on housing issues. Photos can also be taken in the booth. Depending on how many people engage with the booth the hope is to edit a video of the responses and share it with the community.
The event is geared towards renters since these are the people the legal clinic serves but it is open to anyone to attend. “The housing crisis impacts all levels of home. Home ownership, home renting,” said Smith.
