How can youth groups and young people lead to change?   This week Adam is joined for part 1 of our conversation with House of Friendship Executive Director John Neufeld. John shares the role that youth groups and mentorship played in developing his passion for housing justice, poverty reduction, and creating spaces of belonging. John graciously points the spotlight back onto The Hub and Trinity Church’s work to highlight the key role investing in young people plays in creating a future where no one is left out in the cold, and what “servant leadership” meant to him and can mean for us tod ..read more

How do we create permanently affordable public housing again?   We’re joined once again this week by housing systems engineer Kirsten Wright as we continue to zoom out and look at housing on a systemic level. Adam and Kirsten discuss the need for legislators, cities, and provinces to embrace experimentation when it comes to finding solutions for housing. We also confront the question of public housing, which has largely been abandoned by our civic leaders for decades. To get involved in some great housing advocacy groups check out the links below: For info on how to get connected with ou ..read more

Can Developers Build Cheaper Housing? This week we're joined for the second part of our 2-part conversation with Dan Driedger of Beyond Housing, as we get deeper into how Beyond Housing manages to stay financially sustainable while also building affordable housing. We also chat about what it means to create community fabric, and the stories of success Dan has seen amidst the challenges of the current state of housing. Follow Beyond Housing's Work: https://beyondhousing.ca/ Follow our work: https://linktr.ee/Thehubcommunity www.instagram.com/hubstagrams www.facebook.com/hubworship https ..read more

Who are the unseen victims of the housing crisis?   On this week's episode, we begin part one or a two-part conversation with Dan Driedger the director of Beyond Housing (formerly called Menno Homes). We hear how and why he went from a successful career in the for-profit industrial sector to a full-time role working for an Affordable Housing non-profit. Adam and Dan discuss Beyond Housing's work supporting the unseen victims of the housing crisis. Follow Beyond Housing's Work: https://beyondhousing.ca/ Follow our work: https://linktr.ee/Thehubcommunity www.instagram.com/hubstagrams www ..read more

Can Politicians change housing overnight? To open Season 2 of our podcast, we sat down for an in-person interview with Kitchener Centre MP Mike Morrice to find out. Mike and Adam discuss what the public needs from politicians for tangible progress in affordable housing, and how the public can press politicians to act now for housing justice for all. We also chat about the ‘legislated poverty’ that holds many of our neighbours, particularly those with disabilities, trapped below the poverty line, and how the system isn’t broken: it was built this way.   Follow Mike's work: https://mikemorr ..read more

When I was hungry did you feed me? When I was thirsty, did you gave me drink? When I had no place to stay, did you shelter me? It’s these words of Jesus that inspired our affordable housing podcast “Winter is Coming” With winter returning so is our podcast where, in Season 2, we continue to ask how we go from housing crisis to housing justice? We'll hear from frontline workers, developers, political leaders and affordable housing experts on where we go from here to make housing truly enshrined as a human right. This season we’ll be hearing not only what is NOT working with our system of housi ..read more

This week we are joined by co-founder and director of The Working Centre Joe Mancini. For over 40 years Joe and his partner Stephanie and countless Working Centre staff and volunteers have been combatting poverty in Kitchener-Waterloo and carrying out "common work" as the antidote to the kind of bureaucracy that maintains poverty and housing injustice. Adam and Joe talk about how the pandemic has changed their work, and the success of a shelter that found innovation by having no rules. Follow Joe and The Working Centre:  https://www.theworkingcentre.org https://www.theworkingcentre.org/v ..read more

In our final episode of Season 1, Adam sits down with  Leah Logan of Indwell. As Waterloo's regional manager for affordable housing developer Indwell, Leah has been working at many ends of the spectrum. From design and development to forging relationships with neighbourhoods and local residents, many of whom are not initially sold on the idea of affordable housing in their communities.  Leah talks about the Indwell approach to people-centered development, and how they work to overcome the "Not in my backyard" or NIMBY attitudes of many of our neighbours who are resistant to the idea ..read more

This week Adam is joined by Katherine Bitzer.20 years ago Katherine started a 6-month contract with the Working Centre in Kitchener and with no end in sight she remains as committed as ever to working to address the housing crisis. A member of Trinity United Church's affordable housing committee, Katherine discusses our neighbour in encampments, and the proof that the Working Centre exemplifies; that there is another way to do housing and do it justly. Follow The Working Centre's work: https://www.theworkingcentre.org/ Follow our work: www.instagram.com/hubstagrams www.facebook.com/hubworshi ..read more

How can local churches help move us from Housing Crisis to Housing Justice? And how can they go from learning to action? This week Adam is joined by affordable housing advocate Cathy Baer to explore those questions. Cathy is a member of Trinity United Church in Kitchener, and long before Trinity helped make this podcast possible, they were advocating for and supporting affordable housing with their time, energy, and resources. Cathy joins us to share how Trinity went from simply being aware of the housing crisis, to actively making an impact as a church, and offers a roadmap for other churches ..read more