On The Way Home

Listen in to hear Aislinn Clancy, MPP for Kitchener Centre and Deputy Leader of the Ontario Green Party, bringing deep roots in social work and local leadership, as a former school social worker and Kitchener Ward 10 councillor to her bold legislative work at Queen’s Park including spearheading the Homelessness Ends with Housing Act, a ten‑year, housing‑first strategy to end chronic homelessness i...

In this episode of On The Way Home, we’re joined by Janet Lambert of Dixon Hall and Jawad Kassab of Fred Victor — two dynamic board leaders also leading the Shelter and Support Board Advocacy Coalition (SSBAC). With decades of experience across legal, health, and community sectors, they share how their unique leadership paths converged to champion systemic change in Toronto’s shelter and supportiv...

Join legal and community housing expert John Fox, community advocate Diana Chan McNally, and CMHA CEO Camille Quenneville as they break down Bills 6, 10, and 25 and what these potential changes may mean for housing policy, homelessness supports, and social services across Ontario. This panel dives into the risks, opportunities, and calls to action for advocates, service providers, listeners, and p...

In this episode, we speak with Devin Tu, founder of MapYourProperty and the innovative Affordable 360 platform. Affordable 360 is a free tool for nonprofits and government agencies, designed to expedite the predevelopment phase of affordable housing projects. By leveraging AI and comprehensive data, it helps identify viable land opportunities swiftly, streamlining the path from concept to con...

In this special episode of On the Way Home, Blue Door’s new host and interim CEO Emmy Kelly sits down with Michael Braithwaite to reflect on his impactful tenure as CEO of Blue Door. They discuss significant initiatives Blue Door has launched including the start of the organization’s land trust, the reimagining of Kevin’s Place in Newmarket, and the creation of the Construct trades employment soci...

This week on the podcast, we talk to Stephanie and Promise from the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness about their new podcast, “Prevention Matters.”  We chat about how it came about, what its focus is, and what their hopes are for the future of the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ross Perry from CHX Technologies joins us to talk about a revolutionary new dental treatment called “Prevora”. Its easy to apply, deeply affordable and is a perfect solution to supporting our most vulnerable with their dental care and overall health. You won’t want to miss this one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we talk to Trina Prince, about their work in advocating for trans, two-spirit, queer, and disabled individuals, how their lived experience has influenced the way they approach their work. As well, we chat about the steps forward and the steps back society has taken with trans rights and what has to change moving forward. This is a must listen Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...

This week, we chat with Cheryll Case, founder and Executive Director at CP Planning. Cheryll and I discuss how she made the courageous decision to found CP Planning right out of university, the challenges we face with the ongoing housing crisis, her ideas on how we move forward, and what the future looks like moving forward Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While we must continue to talk about the development of affordable housing, the discussion around guaranteed income has never been more important. This week I’m joined by Sheila Regehr, Tracy Smith-Carrier, and Joshua Smee to discuss all things BIG or Basic Guaranteed Income. We talk about what it really is, how it would differ from what’s currently in place, the pushback against it...

This week we are joined by Professor Jayne Malenfant from McGill University whose focus is on the educational experiences of young people and adults experiencing homelessness. As a lived expert themselves, we talk about how their lived experiences have shaped and influenced their research, 2SLGBTQ+ youth and homelessness, and why we need to prioritize our focus on the prevention of homelessness mo...

This week, we chat with Cari Kozierok- CEO, Ve’ahavta about the innovative and evolving work that this wonderful organization does in the Toronto community, supporting those most in need. We talk about what “Ve’ahavta means, how they started, and how they are constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of their clients and their community Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...

This week on the pod, we are joined by Mark Kennedy, CEO at Everbloom Homes, and Aleeya Velji, CEO of Enfin Impact, about their new CMHC funded solutions lab, Everbloom Homes Community Interest Company, a unique and innovative community housing business model with a mission to seed sustainable, inclusive growth for Canada’s housing market. You won’t want to miss it Hosted on Acast. See acast....

This week on the pod, we are joined by an amazing panel of 4 from Habitat Canada, CREA, CHRA, and CAEH to talk about the just released “Housing Canada: A Sovereign Plan to Protect Canadians and Build a Resilient Housing System.” We talk about how it all came together, what the key recommendations are, how it’s been received so far, the hopes for the plan moving forward, and muc...

This week on the pod, we are fortunate to have Nate Erskine-Smith, the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, to chat about the Federal Liberals' proposed housing platform, how tariffs might affect that plan and housing in general, and much, much more. As we head into one of the most important elections of our lifetime, it’s a must-listen!   Ho...

This week on the pod, we are joined by Clovis Grant and Tahirah Simmons from 360kids to talk about their brilliant work in Black Youth Housing. We talk about how it came about, how they went about putting together the housing model, the role black youth played in the development, and what their hopes are for outcomes as the program looks to launch very soon. You’ll want to take a li...

"This week on the pod, we are joined by Dr. Andrew Boozary, Nation Chuong, and Keith Hambly to talk about the incredible new social medicine program at Dunn House in Toronto. The partnership between the University Health Network, Fred Victor, and the United Way that matches the health care our most vulnerable need, along with long-term housing for 51 individuals. We t...

Carolyn Dyer joins us this week on the pod to chat about her work leading 'REACH', a mobile healthcare program in Niagara that brings care to the most vulnerable across the Niagara Region, removing barriers for people experiencing homelessness to move forward in their health and housing journey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we talk with Eri Dej, an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University and a long-time researcher in homelessness and housing, about her incredible new documentary examining Homelessness in mid-size cities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, I’m joined on the podcast by Professor Shauna MacKinnon, who leads the Social Housing and Human Rights Coalition. We discuss how the coalition came to be, what social housing is exactly, and why it is critical more than ever to help end the affordable housing crisis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Jesse Donaldson from HelpSeeker and Michael Jacek from AMO join us on the pod to discuss the explosive new data in the “Municipalities Under Pressure: The Growing Human and Financial Cost of Ontario’s Homelessness Crisis” report from AMO. We discuss what they found(80,000 people experiencing homelessness in Ontario), what could happen if serious action is taken(grow to 300,000 exper...

This week I’m joined by Jacob Gorenkoff, Maggie Rodrigues, and Kyle Fox to discuss Ontario’s Provincial election and what it means to housing and homelessness going forward. We chat about each party’s platforms in regards to housing and homelessness, where the current government has got it right and wrong, and what their hopes are coming out of the election moving forward. It’s a don’t m...

This week on the pod we meet with Ray and Mel from CHRA to talk all about the upcoming Congress happening in Saskatoon. They share information about the speakers, presenters, amazing tours, and cool events that will make this year’s Congress one of the best ever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we have a panel of guests including Diana Chan McNally, Jeff Schlemmer, and Annie Hodgins to chat about the recent actions of some Ontario Mayors and the Premier of Ontario, looking to use force and punishment to clear growing encampments, and threatening use of the notwithstanding clause. We chat about how this all came about, what it means, why it won’t work, and what has wor...

This week we sit down with Bill Rowlands-, Head of End Youth Homelessness Cymru to chat about the work they are doing to prevent youth homelessness. We talk about some cool peer led research around neurodiversity and youth homelessness, their newly launched podcast and a very interesting new tool they’ve borrowed from the U.S called YEXLS, Youth Justice Simulation. Hosted on Acast. See acast....