Épisodes

  • 2025's Impact and Looking ahead: Blue Door's successes and innovations

    2025's Impact and Looking ahead: Blue Door's successes and innovations
    Oct 8 2026
    Alex Cheng, Vice President of Programs and Services at Blue Door, speaks about the organization's accomplishments in the last year and strategic priorities for the next 5 years. Alex discussed how existing services in 3 core service areas : Housing, Health and Employment have continued to grow and demonstrate strong outcomes. He also discusses how Blue Door looks forward to the imminent opening of its first long term affordable housing project and a bold plan to build 1000 affordable units in the next 10 years through Housing for All and a newly incorporated community Land Trust.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    51 min
  • Inside Homes First: Rethinking Supportive Housing and Homelessness Services

    Inside Homes First: Rethinking Supportive Housing and Homelessness Services
    Oct 1 2026
    Homes First is one of Toronto's largest and leading services for housing and homelessness services in Toronto. Homes First offers Emergency Shelter, Supportive Housing and support services including eviction prevention, trauma informed counselling and harm reduction supports. Working with individuals with acute needs, many of whom experience chronic homelessness, Homes First is a leader in Supportive Housing , wrap around supports and implementing a Housing First approach. Nick Falvo, Research Consultant and Homes First staff: Lacey Kerr, Director of Housing, Michael Potvin, Director of Client Services and Ryan Evershed, Assistant Director of Community Engagement and Client Programming, speak about their innovative model. They discuss an opportunity to join a three-day Training lab designed primarily for Directors, Managers, and Supervisors. The onsite training lab will offer an opportunity to dive deeply into the programs and learn from Homes First successes. In this podcast you will learn about the training lab and gain insight into Homes First's programs

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    45 min
  • Reducing barriers to Care with Dean Dewar

    Reducing barriers to Care with Dean Dewar
    Sep 24 2026
    Community Health Centres have become vital partners in serving people experiencing homelessness by providing primary health care, mental health support, health promotion programs and community outreach. This week we speak to Dean Dewar, Director, Community Engagement and Outreach Service at Sandy Hill Community Health Centre in Ottawa about reducing barriers to care for some of the most vulnerable in our communities. One of the key components of Sandy Hill's services is employing people with lived experience of homelessness and substance use as key members of the team shaping and leading services within their communities. Dean will also speak about Sandy Hill's experience through the closure of the Centre's Consumption and Treatment Services by engaging staff, service users and community partners.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    55 min
  • From the Ground: A Municipality led solution to the housing crisis

    From the Ground: A Municipality led solution to the housing crisis
    Sep 17 2026
    Canada is in the grip of a housing crisis affecting Canadians, communities and local economies. Municipalities are on the front lines—and land is at the foundation of local solutions. By starting with land locally, communities can move faster, reduce project costs and create more permanently affordable housing for the people who need it most. From the Ground is a national, mayor-driven movement, led by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) identifying publicly owned or underused land for non-market housing. This campaign will support communities in building a stronger pipeline of housing-ready sites and connecting local opportunities to the partners, financing and policy tools needed to move projects forward. We speak to the Mayor of Newmarket, John Taylor, a passionate housing advocate, and Jen Arntfield, Senior Manager, Research and Policy at FCM, about how they are inviting local leaders to participate in this municipality-led movement.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 h et 2 min
  • A model for preserving community: The Kensington Market Community Land Trust

    A model for preserving community: The Kensington Market Community Land Trust
    Sep 10 2026


    Land Trusts continue to flourish across the country. The Kensington Market Community land Trust (KMCLT) started 10 years ago as a means to preserve affordable rents in the community. Today, supported by community bonds, donations and the City of Toronto's Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition Program, the KMCLT owns three buildings including mixed residential and commercial spaces. Dominique Russell and Celia Wandio, Co-Directors of the Land Trust speak to us about Land Trusts broadly, the KMCLT's history and how managing commercial and residential spaces provides unique challenges. They also speak about the governance structure and recommendations to make the model even more viable in order to preserve affordability and the unique character of a neighbourhood.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    58 min
  • The Research Behind Canada’s National Housing Strategy with Shauna McKinnon

    The Research Behind Canada’s National Housing Strategy with Shauna McKinnon
    Sep 3 2026

    Today we are joined by Shauna McKinnon, Professor of Urban and Inner-City Studies at University of Winnipeg as well as Board member of the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation. Shauna is also a founding member of the Social Housing and Human Rights coalition. We talk to Shauna about changes in the housing landscape, the National Housing Strategy 2.0 and the important role of social housing investments to help solve the housing crisis.


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    40 min
  • Innovations in community supportive housing with Alana Jones

    Innovations in community supportive housing with Alana Jones
    Aug 27 2026
    Today we welcome Alana Jones, Founder and Executive Director at Borden Place. Borden Place is a supportive community housing provider based in Toronto whose program started from neighborhood concerns about a neglected rooming house. Today, through strong community and landlord relationships, Borden Place manages three locations across the GTA. Borden Place ensures that rooming houses remain an affordable option and that individuals have the support they need to thrive. Individuals receive housing, food, mental health and addictions supports, all funded through charitable donations.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    54 min
  • A Decade of Reflection: 10 years of growth and dedication with Emmy Kelly

    A Decade of Reflection: 10 years of growth and dedication with Emmy Kelly
    Aug 20 2026
    This week on On the Way Home, we sit down with Emmy Kelly, former On the Way Home host and Blue Door COO, as she reflects on her next chapter. Emmy shares insights from her nearly 10 years at Blue Door, the lessons she learned from colleagues and individual service users, and the incredible housing community she had the opportunity to connect with through the podcast.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    49 min