MANSO’s Housing Committee advocates to increase access to affordable housing for newcomers, supports new housing initiatives for newcomers to MB and works to provide accessible and accurate information to newcomers and service-providers on housing.
This year, the Housing Committee has coordinated a few initiatives to share information:
- The
Housing Committee coordinated a webinar with the Social Housing Rental Program of Manitoba Housing on their new intake procedures in August of 2018. (The webinar is available here.)
- On February 28th, 2018, the Committee will host a webinar with Rent Assist to make sure that our members and friends understand how Rent Assist works for newcomers. There will be lots of opportunity for Q & A. Registration is open here.
- The plain-language guides on Renting a Home in Manitoba (available in English and French) and Buying a Home in Manitoba (available in English only), are still available to order hard-copy from the MANSO office or for free as .pdf documents.
The Committee also continues to communicate with government about the importance of affordable and appropriate housing for newcomers. In June 2017, the Housing Committee wrote a letter to the provincial Minister of Families expressing concern about changes made to the Rent Assist program, and will continue to voice support for programs that increase access to affordable housing.
At our upcoming meeting on February 15th, 2018, we will learn from Josh Brandon of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg about the new National Housing Strategy, and its implications for the sector.
For more information about the committee, contact Sally Nelson at sallyn@newjourneyhousing.com (Committee Chair), or Don Boddy at d.boddy@mansomanitoba.ca (MANSO staff support).