A new year brings new opportunities and renewed energy and
hope. Taking a cue from classic personal resolutions, I’m putting out these
work goals and what I believe will help us and our sector get more families
into affordable homes in 2016.
1. Lose the Weight –
and keep it off!
In affordable housing, we tend to carry a lot of weight: emotional
baggage about what past governments have promised and not delivered, the fact
that we still don’t have a national housing strategy, a world of rising
building costs …the list goes on.
At Options we resolve to let some of that go. We won’t revisit old stories or temper our
enthusiasm because of what happened historically. We’re focusing on writing new
stories and if we need support staying positive we’ll take inspiration from
some of our new homeowners who have overcome great challenges as reminder that it
IS possible.
2. Get Fit.
Weight loss is great, but to capitalize on opportunities we
also have to be strong. We are committed to scaling up our production of units,
and working with others in the sector to find ways that we can collectively
scale up. We believe that this is the
year the affordable housing sector will be offered even greater opportunities
to make a difference in people’s lives, so within Options we’re investing in building
a bigger and stronger team and building our overall capacity to help more
families and individuals become homeowners.
3. Be a Better
Friend.
Often when you’re so busy improving yourself you neglect
your friends. This year, let’s resolve
to seize opportunities for partnership and collaboration across our sector. This
is a pivotal moment with a promising alignment of our municipal, provincial,
and federal governments around affordable housing. We plan to make the most of
this unique opportunity to collaborate on strengthening the fabric of this
great city together.
Happy New Year!
Wishing my industry colleagues an exciting and productive
2016 pushing existing boundaries for the benefit of Torontonians.
- Heather
Heather Tremain is CEO of Options
for Homes, Canada’s largest delivery agent of affordable home
ownership. Now in its 21st
year, Options creates ownership opportunities for households with incomes as
low as $25,000.00 per year. From the
first development in Toronto’s Distillery District, to a new development under
construction in Cameroon, Africa, Options organizations have created homes for
over 6500 households using a unique housing model. Options Toronto is about to
break ground on two new projects that together will enable 525 families to own
their own homes. www.optionsforhomes.ca
