Living In Place Campaign by ONT Older Women's Network

Time to future proof Australian housing Only a mandatory approach to accessibility standards will future-proof Australia’s housing for coming generations, and cater to the demands of an ageing population, write Dr Di Winkler and Dr Peter Mulherin outlining the Building Better Homes Campaign. https://probonoaustralia.com.au//time-to-future-proof-aus/

The Accessible Housing Network is a collaboration of organizations, advocating in support of people of all ages to live as they wish, in housing which is fully accessible. We invite other individuals and groups to support our campaign by contacting their own elected representatives at all levels - municipal, provincial and federal. Our message to all our elected representatives:...Continue reading

March 20th is the birthday of actor, writer, and theatre impresario James Sanders (1970). During his third semester in theatre school, Sanders became quadriplegic as the result of a spinal cord injury. After a year of rehab, he returned to school to complete his training. Sanders believes the attitudinal barriers towards a person with a disability are more difficult to navigate than the physical barriers. He is the founding Artistic Director of Realwheels Theatre. In 2007 he ...wrote and starred in the award winning SKYDIVE a unique theatrical presentation in which Sanders and his non-disabled co-star literally took to the air soaring above the stage floor for the entire play. Sanders makes sure that people with disabilities and their challenges are authentically portrayed in all his shows. He views disability as, the landscape upon which universal issues are discussed questions of identity and questions of what’s real. It just so happens that we have characters with disabilities telling sections of the story. Sanders can be seen currently on the Vancouver-shot Apple TV+ series Home Before Dark.

In Australia - and in Canada - https://www.buildingbetterhomes.org.au/aus-pwd.html

January 4th is the birthday of French educator, musician and inventor Louis Braille (1809). He is best known for inventing a tactile system that enabled people who are blind to read and write. Braille lost the sight of one eye when he was three as the result of an accident. Two years later he lost the sight of his other eye. Braille’s ingenuity began when he was 15. He created braille by simplifying night writing a method French soldiers used to communicate quietly when it was dark. He published his first book in braille in 1829. Braille is not a language but a code enabling people to read and write in their own language. It is still in use today although with the advent of audio books, smart phones and text-to-voice readers usage is 10 percent of what it was a century ago.

How You Can Help Create Accessible Housing in Ontario https://theseatedview.blogspot.com//help-create-accessible

Fighting to Increase Accessible Housing https://theseatedview.blogspot.com//living-in-place-fighti

From Maytree Foundation: A human rights-based approach to Inclusionary Zoning can counter housing inequities The housing market creates and exacerbates multiple inequities in Toronto. IZ is one of the ways the City can provide housing for those whose needs are not met by the market. A human rights-based assessment would consider ways that IZ policies can reduce existing housing inequities, ... and increase the supply of accessible, universally designed units and the supply of lower-cost family-sized units for sole-support parents. https://maytree.com//submission-human-rights-based-approa/

Accessible Housing: A Rare Find in Toronto https://www.enables.me/accessible-housing-rare-find-in-tor/

https://www.lifemark.co.nz//miles-construction-incorpora/

https://www.nytimes.com//teaching-nutcracker-to-visually-i

Why do we keep building homes as if we are never going to grow old? It's time to change the cookie cutter and bring the design of our homes in line with our lives. Universal design features are good for everyone. And no, they are not ugly. What's ugly about a wider door or open plan living? Join the campaign. https://lnkd.in/gEqmQdq

On January 3rd 1938 the March of Dimes was launched by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Which is the reason why his image is still on the American dime. FDR encouraged people to mail their dimes to the White House to help find a cure for childhood polio. Dimes came by the truckload 2,680,000 dimes or $268,000 in the first month. The name March of Dimes was coined by entertainer Eddie Cantor based on the song, Brother can you spare a dime? The money funded the development of Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine. FDR was diagnosed with polio in 1921. His wife Eleanor Roosevelt said polio had made her husband more sensitive to the pain of others and determined to do something about it.

From Australia: Making apartments accessible to get ahead of the rising demand. https://www.domain.com.au//trapped-inside-why-social-hous/

In Australia - They are ahead of Canada. Early next year, Building Ministers from across Australia will meet to consider whether to include mandatory minimum accessibility standards in the National Building Code.

https://www.bbc.co.uk//d5291d81-12d7-4216-abff-b0f8800a8031

From the Centre for Equality Rights in Housing (CERA): Ontario NDP Housing Plan takes a big step forward in advancing the right to housing. Here's CERA’s take on it. https://www.equalityrights.org//ontario-ndp-housing-plan-a

New commitment from Ontario NDP: We’ll mandate Universal Design building codes, which are standards that reflect the needs of people of all ages, sizes, abilities and disabilities. Let them know this is a step in the right direction.

Celebrate National Housing day (Nov 22) - Let's make 500 phone calls and send 500 emails TELL YOUR CITY COUNCILLOR Housing is a human right. ... The need for accessible affordable housing is a crisis. 22% of Canadians have a disability. Toronto City Council endorsed the call to change the Ontario Building Code to make universal design mandatory in all new multi-unit residential buildings. Universal design will accommodate anyone of any age or ability. The cost is less than 1% more when planned from the design stage. There is no Ontario law requiring that housing be accessible. The AODA does not mention housing. The Ontario Building Code only requires that 15% of new apartments be visitable, not accessible enough to live there. The City can require that all new housing that the city creates be universal design. No tax dollars should ever create housing barriers. All renovated Toronto Community Housing units must be made accessible.