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w w w .i n si d eH A LT O N .c o m O A K V IL LE B EA V ER Th ur sd ay , S ep te m be r 29 , 2 01 1 1 2 World Habitat Day a time to reflect on how we can make change United Nations World Habitat Day (to be celebrated Oct. 3 this year) is intended for us to reflect on the state of housing in our communities. Few know that 8.5 per cent of our communities resi- dents have incomes below the poverty line. As one woman told Halton Community Legal Services: I put on a brave face to keep our dire financial circumstances a secret from my children. Some working families who purchased homes from Habitat Halton had been spending up to 70 per cent of their income on rent. Some had lived in cold, damp conditions resulting in repeated illnesses. All families purchase their homes from us at Fair Market Value. How? Instead of a down-payment, they invest 500 hours of sweat equity in community service, including helping to build the home; Common to basic tenets of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, we dont charge interest on mortgages; First mortgag- es are for 60 per cent of market value, with the bal- ance payable when title changes. Studies show that Habitats model results in improved child behaviour, with high numbers going on to post- secondary educa- tion, and parents getting better jobs. To grow our impact, we are chang- ing our focus to condominiums and townhouses. Land, however, is either scarce or too expensive. We greatly appreciate the support Haltons local government leaders have extended to Habitat in past years. Yet we need your help to encourage them to help us with our new model. For example: Local governments can negotiate community benefits, like affordable housing, with developers who apply for intensification within good urban design. This tool could be used proac- tively to help households for whom the definition of affordable housing is with- in Habitat income ranges; When governments build rent- geared-to-income housing, which will always be needed by many, taxpayers must support 100 per cent of the cost and maintain it. When government takes a P3 public-private partnership approach with Habitat, we require a fraction of municipal support, for example, a grant to offset development charges, which is done in many other municipalities. World Habitat Day is an opportunity for us to reflect on how we can do more to build healthy communities. Submitted by Anne Swarbrick, executive director, Habitat for Humanity Halton Anne Swarbrick