A group of community volunteers has launched a new non-profit corporation dedicated to creating affordable housing in the Ottawa Valley.
“There is a housing crisis in Renfrew County, Pembroke, and surrounding areas just as in most parts of Canada,” says Ish Theilheimer, who founded the organization and chairs its Board. “There just isn’t enough housing for younger and lower-paid workers and their families and for area seniors. The result is that employers cannot find workers and many people and families are in desperate need.”
Three years of discussion and work by a loose coalition called the Affordable Housing Alliance of the Ottawa Valley (AHAOV) has led to the creation of Ottawa Valley Affordable Housing Inc. (OVAH), with a mandate to create affordable housing in local communities both in partnership with local partners – municipalities, non-profits, developers, builders and concerned citizens – and on its own, as appropriate.
(more…)