Working together to support affordable housing in Hamilton

The following remarks were delivered by Yulena Wan, Vice President, Finance & Operations, to the City of Hamilton General Issues Committee on November 20, 2024.

Good morning,

Yulena Wan, Vice President, Finance & Operations gives remarks to the City of Hamilton General Issues Committee

Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you today.

My name is Yulena Wan, Vice President, Finance and Operations and acting CEO at Hamilton Community Foundation (HCF).

I am speaking to you today in support of the Housing Secretariat’s Housing Sustainability & Investment Roadmap (HSIR). The roadmap’s four pillars and this “whole of Hamilton” strategy is a milestone achievement that has reshaped the way the City is working with community partners to address the housing crisis.

We know that no one sector, organization, or level of government can solve the current crisis in affordable housing and that there is also no single solution to this major systemic problem. That is why HCF supports initiatives across the housing continuum from supportive housing to affordable home ownership.

As you may know, HCF has made a multi-year commitment of $50M to support affordable housing, an initiative we call SCAFFOLD. Just as scaffolding delivers the right support at the right time in a construction project, SCAFFOLD guides our decisions on where our philanthropic capital and resources will have the most impact. This can include support through community investments, granting, making connections and convening.

Over the past decade, we have already committed nearly $25M in impact investing when it comes to housing. Our work includes developing funding strategies designed to rebuild a healthy “non-market” housing sector. Locally, this has meant providing “patient capital” to acquire existing private market rental stock and transferring ownership to non-profits. Regionally, this has meant supporting an affordable housing development organization to add much-needed capacity to the system. Nationally, this has been advocating alongside a group of foundations to the federal government which resulted in the spring budget announcement of the new Canada Rental Protection Fund.

HCF’s partnership with the City of Hamilton has been an important component of our affordable housing strategy. This included funding and sharing the findings of Steve Pomeroy and Dr. Brian Doucet. Not only did these contribute to the development of the HSIR, they also helped inform our SCAFFOLD strategy.

Since then, we’ve been invested in the Roadmap’s ongoing implementation because we know the critical role it plays in Hamilton’s well-being. This includes multi-year funding for a Senior Advisor position within the Secretariat. As part of our commitment and longstanding relationship with the Secretariat, both our CEO, Rudi Wallace, and I are members of the Advisory Committee. The roadmap is an important part in the Foundation’s current strategic plan, and Justin Lewis will be presenting at our next board meeting in January.

Our partnership with the secretariat also extends into the community. We’re working with Hamilton is Home, the alliance of community housing providers who share their experiences to make our investments more effective. We’re helping fund Social Innovation Canada’s transit-oriented affordable housing lab being piloted right here in this city. Using the Secretariat’s Affordable Housing Development Project Stream, we’re eager to collaborate on innovative ways to finance projects and see where HCF dollars can be most catalytic, particularly investing in longer-term solutions.

While HCF cannot mobilize the level of resources available to municipal government, the work we are doing together is complementary. Our mission to connect people, ideas and resources involves the City of Hamilton nearly every step of the way.

Continuing to carry out the recommendations in the roadmap is critical to achieving our vision of a vibrant, diverse and inclusive city. Our partnership with the Housing Secretariat is a prime example of the collaboration needed to move forward. We are proud of our joint accomplishments to date and look forward to deepening our work together on the roadmap.

Thank you.

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