Heritage, homelessness team up to help York Region's at-risk youth

Yorkregion.com
July 31, 2017
By Kim Zarzour

Tucked behind the overgrown bushes on a busy suburban highway, windowsills rotting, mouldy old Christmas decorations dripping off the back porch, Patrick Cooney's house has seen better days - but better days may be ahead.

A half-dozen city workers, politicians, planners and activists waded through the Markham property's thigh-high weeds last week, swatting mosquitoes and staring up at the wreckage with enthusiasm.

Could this be the place?

The ad hoc group of visionaries, pragmatists and idealists were gathered at the 150-year-old farmhouse on Major Mackenzie Drive to work on a dream - one that Patrick Cooney, immigrant, labourer and father of six children, might approve.

Michael Braithwaite led the group's tour July 25. Executive director of Raising the Roof, a national organization seeking long-term solutions to homelessness, he described his vision of repurposing vacant heritage homes across the country for affordable housing.

The way he sees it, developers, government and local municipalities could donate or provide long-term lease agreements - at a price of $1 for 10 to 20 years - for unused buildings like the old Cooney homestead, which could then be renovated for rental housing with construction help from marginalized, unemployed youth.

It's an idea he and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority's Darryl Gray came up with at York Region's Human Services Planning Board recently after partnering on a similar project last fall, converting a TRCA-owned home on Mill Street in Markham to a three-bedroom dwelling for at-risk youth.

They believe their new venture, which they've dubbed "Reside," can tackle two issues at once: the affordable housing shortage, and at-risk youth.

Rather than focusing on building new housing, which is a major financial, time and ecological investment, Braithwaite and Gray propose an alternative solution: transforming the existing stock of empty buildings into affordable homes.

There's plenty out there. The conservation authority owns 118 homes across the GTA watershed, obtained as part of the acquisition of natural heritage land and green space; municipalities, in their quest to preserve historic buildings, also end up with vacant homes needing purpose.

Nobody likes a vacant building - not the neighbours, who worry about vandalism and deterioration, nor the developers or municipalities responsible for maintaining them.

The homes would be renovated with through Building Up, a nonprofit social enterprise that trains and employs marginalized youths to keep them from experiencing homelessness themselves.

Similar initiatives have been successful in the Netherlands, Sydney and the U.K.

But first, the Reside team needs to find a building to showcase their idea.

Last week they visited the Cooney house, the 100-year-old Raymer Wambold house on Markham Road, and a former church house in Caledon.

Local councillor Karen Rea helped lead the fact-finding tour in Markham.

"We have a huge issue here with the price of houses, and rental rates are astronomical. We need to stop passing the buck, saying it's not a municipal issue, saying it's the region's issue or the province's. It's everyone's."

A member of the heritage committee, Rae said the city has 65 vacant heritage homes and, like most municipalities, an ongoing struggle with "demolition by neglect" - developers letting them deteriorate until they're beyond repair.

Saving the homes, and helping homeless, is a "win-win," she said.

Christine Pacini, partner at SHS Consulting, also took part in the tour, working with the team to find a home that can act as a demo model to be replicated across the country.

"Developers buy up a big chunk of land that may have buildings on it and, while they wait for approvals to begin building, the homes can sit vacant for five, 10, 20 years."

Rather than leave them to go derelict, or force a developer to turn reluctant, often absentee landlord, the home can be renovated with help from government, nonprofits and donations from businesses like Home Depot.

And instead  of an absentee landlord, Raising the Roof or a community organization they've partnered with, will oversee the housing, she said.

John Taylor, chair of the region's human services planning board and Newmarket regional councillor, is talking with developers in the northern part of York to get them on board, too.

"It's a really interesting idea … We have made some progress on the housing issue but we have to be more innovative, think outside the box with creative solutions."

Also on board is Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow, who notes that the ideal building would be located near a transit corridor.

"I've been with the TRCA for more than 20 years, and this is one of the coolest projects I've ever been involved with," said Gray.

"It's a great example of different segments of the community coming together with the private sector to make something happen.

"At the end of the day, we are about serving the public, and this is a different way for us to leave a lasting legacy."