June Callwood Centre for Women and Families has a history as a leader in housing advocacy for teen parents. Our work in housing was recognized in 1999 with a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation award for excellence in advocating housing equality for youth. We have developed innovative collaborative arrangements with housing co-operatives across Toronto and established an independent housing project for 16 families above June's Centre.
Combining our advocacy skills with practical and concrete services for teen parents, June's Centre recently added a full time Housing Counsellor to our staff team. We have received funding for this position from the United Way of Greater Toronto and are in the process of implementing a housing program that is responsive to the complex needs of teen parents.
June's Centre Housing Counsellor works with a team of trained and supervised volunteers to provide practical and concrete housing support to teen parents and their children. Support offered through June's Centre housing program is targeted at the many stages in making a move toward independent living.
Teens are able to access housing help in the following areas:
- Searching through rental listings for appropriate units
- Filling out applications for subsidized housing
- Household budgeting
- Calling landlords to arrange viewings and interviews
- Accompaniment when viewing units and attending interviews
- Information on tenant rights and responsibilities
- Advocacy and support when facing housing discrimination
- Conflict resolution with landlords
- Accompaniment to Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal in the event that a landlord-tenant dispute results in tribunal proceedings
- Referral to other community agencies as needed (such as: legal aid clinics, Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation, Federation of Metro Tenants Associations)
