Jewish Independent: Community housing needed

May 5, 2006

VERONIKA STEWART

For low-income families looking for affordable housing in the internationally dubbed "best city in the world to live," the wait is a long one. On the bright side, however, there are those looking to help.

The Jewish Family Service Agency (JFSA) has recently started the Community Affordable Rental Program (CARP). The program asks "community-minded" property owners with residential rental units to offer one or more units below the regular market price.

Andrea Gillman, housing co-ordinator at the JFSA, said property owners are contacted on an individual basis.

"It's slow to start," Gillman said. She said some of the property owners she's spoken to have wanted to help. Others already contribute to the organization in other ways.

So far, the program has located affordable housing for one family, a single father and his son. Gillman said single-parent families make up the majority of people seeking affordable housing. She described the average family seeking help from the JFSA as, "A single, female parent paying $750 in rent, making her living expenses around $820, including utilities." This makes her cost of living higher than the amount she gets from income assistance, according to Gillman.

Gillman's statements are an echo of the 2001 Report on Jewish Poverty, which cited a 34 per cent rate of poverty among single mothers and a 14 per cent rate among single fathers, compared to a 9.2 per cent rate of poverty among two-parent families.

Gillman said single-parent families are a group that has been largely overlooked in the community when it comes to housing.

"What's out there is almost solely for seniors," Gillman said. "There is no community family housing at the moment."

Gillman attributed the trouble families have finding affordable housing partially to rising housing costs, as well as a variety of other factors.

"Rents aren't getting any cheaper," Gillman said. "Technically, you should pay no more than 30 per cent of your income towards housing." Gillman added that most clients pay well over that, some as much as 50 per cent.

Mark Weintraub, chair of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region, agreed about the importance of funding housing for the community.

"We think it's a very significant problem for the city as a whole and specifically for the Jewish community," Weintraub said. "There are a significant number of Jewish families waiting for affordable housing and, as a human rights organization, Congress is of the view that the dignity of each citizen must be enhanced and that has to start with proper accommodation."

Weintraub said that although it may seem as if the lack of affordable housing is worsening, there is no way to tell for sure because the plight of those with lower incomes has always been largely ignored.

"It would appear that in light of the attractiveness of Vancouver and the escalating real estate costs that the problem is intensifying, but the concerns of people in the lower socioeconomic levels have never really been of paramount concern," Weintraub said. "So it's hard to know how grave the problem is, compared to past years."

Weintraub said in order to keep a thriving Jewish population in Vancouver, there needs to be housing to accommodate them.

"One of the reasons that the Jewish community was advocating for the housing policy in Southeast False Creek was that it would permit the Jewish community to continue to see Vancouver as a central focus," Weintraub said, "and we consider that while there's a vibrant Jewish community in the Lower Mainland, we must continue to support a powerful Jewish presence in Vancouver proper."

Weintraub praised the JFSA's work in remedying the problem, despite a lack of resources.

"Anything that assists in this problem is of great utility," Weintraub said. "If it even assists one or two families, this is a mitzvah of the highest order."

One in seven people within the Jewish community lives in poverty, according to the JFSA. And more than 1,000 individuals and families are known to the JFSA to be without affordable housing.

Vancouver's CARP is based on a pilot project out of Toronto that's been up and running for a year now, with a total of 32 units provided to the Jewish community. According to Gillman, who worked on that project, residents of the units have reportedly felt less stress due to better housing conditions and reduced housing costs. Gillman said many have also become more involved in their communities, due to the fact that they were given an opportunity to live closer to synagogues, Jewish day schools and community centres.

In Vancouver, there are more than 10,000 households on the waiting list for the 47,000 social housing spots in the Lower Mainland, most of which are provided by the provincial government's housing program. More than half of them are families with children, according to Verna Semoltuk, senior regional planner at the Greater Vancouver Regional District policy and planning department. Additionally, there are close to 1,300 homeless people in the city of Vancouver alone, with another 55,000 families at risk of homelessness, according to 2001 data.

"There are actually a lot of consequences to paying that much, if you're a renter or a homeowner," Semoltuk said. "If you're paying more than 50 per cent of your income for rent, we know that you're taking away from your food and transportation money in order to pay for your rent, which obviously has social consequences."

Veronika Stewart is a Vancouver freelance writer.

http://www.jewishindependent.ca/Archives/May06/archives06May05-06.html

Jewish Federation: The Ethics of Modern Jewish Life

By Bernice Miller
May 2006

Philosophers' Cafés at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver were held three times this past winter. Each café drew a large and enthusiastic audience of 50 to 80 participants. Dr. Laura Duhan Kaplan, Congregation Or Shalom's Rabbi, moderated all three sessions, which focused on essential ethical issues faced by the Jewish community.

On January 21, the topic of discussion was the rights and obligations we have as Jews and world citizens. How should we express our own values, claim our own rights and, at the same time, respect the needs and rights of others?

On February 11, Shelley Rivkin and Iris Toledano of the Yad B'Yad Council on Poverty joined Rabbi Kaplan to explore the question of poverty. Few believed that we would ever be rid of poverty, but there was a strong interest in finding ways to try to deal with it. Shelley and Iris not only presented statistics on poverty in our community, but raised our awareness and sensitivity to the realities of the poverty experience in our community. Though the 'Tickets to Inclusion' program is successful and gaining support from Jewish organizations, there are still problems that need to be addressed when scholarships are offered. From costumes for dance classes to expensive books that are required for some courses, instructors and community members need to be cognizant of potential problem areas, sensitive to inequalities and more aware of how to handle these inequalities.

On March 11, Rabbi Kaplan was joined by guest speaker, Mark Weintraub, chair of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region. The topic of discussion was whether we, as Jews, are obligated to prevent world genocide. The Talmud says that 'Whoever saves even one life, it is as if he or she has saved an entire world'. It was clear that the audience was against mass murder, committed by any state, with the empathy of a people who will always feel the pain of the Holocaust in their blood.

The Philosophers' Cafés were presented by the JCCGV and Simon Fraser University's Interdisciplinary Programs in Continuing Studies, with generous support from Yosef Wosk and B'nai B'rith.

http://www.jfgv.com/content_display.html?ArticleID=183411

Western Jewish Bulletin: Election calls Jews to action

June 4, 2004

Election calls Jews to action
National, local bodies urge activism in your choice political campaign.

PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

In what is shaping up as one of the most unpredictable election campaigns in recent memory, federal candidates are seeking the support of Jewish voters – and Jewish Canadians are taking a hard look at the choices facing them.

A candidates' forum sponsored by three multicultural agencies, including Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), is slated for next Wednesday at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. Candidates from the three national parties in each of the five Vancouver ridings have been invited to the forum, which is sponsored by CJC, with the Chinese-Canadian organization SUCCESS and the Vancouver Multicultural Society. The forum, which is similar to events in previous elections, will address issues of social justice, immigration, human rights and Canada's international role, in addition to questions raised from the floor.

In an open letter to CJC members and supporters, Mark Weintraub, the new chair of CJC, Pacific Region, urged Canadian Jews to get involved in politics.

"A campaign is a most significant time to establish relationships with and provide information of concern to potential members of Parliament," he wrote. "One of the best ways in doing this is to become active as a volunteer in a campaign. Even if your candidate is unsuccessful, the educative value of your participation for the longer term cannot be overemphasized."

Weintraub told the Bulletin he is encouraged that there have been a few signs of increased political activity among Jewish British Columbians, something CJC has long been encouraging.

In terms of issues specific to the Jewish community, Weintraub said the community shares the same concerns as the bulk of the Canadian electorate, from health-care policy, domestic security issues and the environment, to fair and equitable taxation. Even issues like anti-Semitism should not be considered "Jewish issues," he said. Citing as an example violence against women, Weintraub said. "we're all affected by the pathology." Though anti-Semitism affects Jewish Canadians most directly, he said, it is a Canadian problem and needs to be addressed as such.

At the national level, the new umbrella agency CIJA-PAC – the political action committee of the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy – is set to release "issue sheets" that will help Jewish and Zionist voters to query their local candidates. In a letter to CIJA members, the group's chair, Mark Waldman, equated participation in political activity with tikkun olam, the Jewish interdiction to help repair the world.

"Other groups are involving themselves in various political parties," Waldman wrote. "We too need to offer support to candidates and volunteer for their campaigns. Without our presence, visibility and participation, we will lose the ability to be heard in Ottawa on important policy issues at a time when a strong voice is needed most. The most effective means of conveying the Jewish community's messages and mutual understanding to our political leadership is by actively participating in the political process.... We need a strong base of support among all of the political parties."

Waldman told the Bulletin he would like to see Jewish Canadians avoid placing all their political eggs in one basket. Each member of the community should become active in the campaigns of the political party they feel best reflects their views – participation is key, rather than the support of one particular party.

"It's critical for our community to get involved in political activity," said Waldman. "The federal government plays an important role in all aspects of our life."

Waldman and others were recently in Washington, D.C., meeting with American political leaders and other Zionists. The speeches he heard from Democratic and Republican politicians, Waldman said, indicated that American leaders recognize the shared values between their country and the only democratic regime in the Middle East.

"Supporting Israel is an American value, it's not a Democratic or Republican value," he said. "We need to do that here."

Though the Jewish community has concerns with a wide swath of political issues, Canadian foreign policy toward Israel has leapt to the top of the community's agenda since the last election. Increasing acts of verbal and physical hatred over the past four years in Canada have created a sense of urgency and isolation. Canada's votes against Israel at the United Nations have often riled Jewish community leaders, though the addition of groups like Hamas to the list of banned terrorist organizations has been seen as a positive development.

Few Jewish candidates have put themselves forward for election in recent years. Two members of Vancouver's Jewish community contested Conservative party nominations in Vancouver-Quadra and Vancouver-South, but neither was successful. Canadians vote June 28.

The Vancouver candidates' forum being co-sponsored by CJC takes place Wednesday, June 9, 7 p.m., at the Norman Rothstein Theatre in the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.

Pat Johnson is a native Vancouverite, a journalist and commentator.

http://www.jewishindependent.ca/archives/June04/archives04Jun04-01.html