NEWSLETTER
VOLUME 1 - OCTOBER 2023
BUILD TOGETHER & THE NOVA SCOTIA NON-PROFIT HOUSING ASSOCIATION (NSNPHA)
IN THIS ISSUE YOU WILL FIND: • Nova Scotia Non-Profit Housing Association launched • Board of directors elected • Executive director named • Who’s engaged • Become a member • Two-year funding in place • Branding and marketing underway • NSNPHA newsletter sign up • What’s next • New Affordable Housing Series at CBU • Dismantling barriers • Connecting
The Build Together project was about strengthening the non-profit housing sector in Nova Scotia. It was grounded in a philosophy of community-based engagement – starting with the people who comprise the sector and dialoguing with all who affect the work. The key objectives were to identify individuals, groups, coalitions, and organizations who work as professionals or volunteers in the sector, identify sectoral strengths and challenges, explore opportunities to strengthen the work, and contribute to a vision of the future. As Build Together wrapped up it affirmed the sector’s priorities, explored options for uniting the sector, and facilitated a decision-making process on how best to do so.
INTRODUCING THE NOVA SCOTIA NON-PROFIT HOUSING ASSOCIATION
INTRODUCING NSNPHA’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TRISH MCCOURT
The Nova Scotia Non-Profit Housing Association (NSNPHA) has been formed!
We are delighted to introduce Trish McCourt as the inaugural Executive Director of the NSNPHA. With a decade of experience providing leadership in the non-profit sector, Trish has dedicated her career to community development and social justice advocacy. Trish is a registered social worker who has traveled Canada from coast to coast to coast, living in six provinces and territories, but has always considered Nova Scotia home. In addition to her social work degree from Dalhousie University School of Social Work, she has been awarded a degree from Saint Mary’s University and certificate from the Nova Scotia Community College. Over the past four years, Trish has led as an executive director at a non-profit women’s center in Southwest Nova Scotia, where her collaborative approach addressed a myriad of women’s issues, including housing challenges. Trish believes housing is a human right. She is dedicated to ensuring rural and urban perspectives and the voices of all communities are included in housing solutions. Trish’s background in the non-profit sector and her unwavering commitment to fostering inclusive communities align perfectly with our organization’s mission. As we embark on this exciting journey to support the non-profit housing sector, Trish’s visionary leadership will undoubtedly chart a course for success. We are thrilled to have her at the helm of our new association and eagerly anticipate the positive impact she will have.
Following the NSNPHA founding meeting in October of 2022, over 30 volunteers formed collaborative teams and began building the organization from the ground up. Continuing from the work of the Build Together project, and based on the clearly articulated values that had emerged, volunteers prepared an application to the Nova Scotia Registry of Joint Stocks Companies and the NSNPHA received its certificate of incorporation under the Societies Act on April 28, 2023. An interim board of directors was named and work continued to implement the NSNPHA model. Efforts focused on recruiting members, hiring an executive director, developing a two-year work plan, and securing funding for the organization. The inaugural annual general meeting of the NSNPHA, held on July 26, drew over 70 attendees. Stéphan Corriveau from the Community Housing Transformation Centre congratulated the group and shared his thoughts on the work of the sector. Ray Sullivan brought greetings from the Canadian Housing Renewal Association and extended an invitation to the NSNPHA to join the Canadian Alliance of Non-Profit Housing Associations. Perhaps most significantly, the first board of directors of the NSNPHA was elected. The NSNPHA will work collaboratively across the province to connect members, share resources, raise the profile of the nonprofit housing sector, advocate for positive change, provide training, and more. The NSNPHA has been built by volunteers who shared their knowledge and invested their time to give life and structure to our organization. We hope to give all our members a voice in the sector like they’ve never had before.
NSNPHA 2023-24 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Aiden Kivisto, Chair
YMCA of Cumberland
Janet Simm, First Vice-Chair
Northwood Care Group
Nick Russell, Second Vice Chair
Dartmouth Housing
Leslay Harris, Treasurer
Tawaak Housing
Dolly Williams, Director
African Nova Scotian Road to Economic Prosperity
Mary Desmond, Director
Antigonish Guysborough Black Housing Association
Michael Kabalen, Director
Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia
Bruce Holland, Director
Spryfield Social Enterprise and Affordable Housing Society
Melanie Sturk, Director
Phoenix Youth Programs
Cheryl Deveaux-McDaniel, Director
Strait Richmond Housing Matters Coalition
Nicole Wright, Director
Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia
WHO’S ENGAGED
WHAT’S NEXT?
We currently have 41 approved members from non-profit housing providers, informal housing groups, networks, and coalitions, government, and associates.
The focus of the NSNPHA is now on enlivening our values and implementing our two-year work plan to support the mobilization, empowerment, and sustainability of Nova Scotia’s non-profit housing sector. In this phase of our journey, the organization will:
To become a member of the NSNPHA, please complete the membership application by visiting https://tinyurl.com/NSNPHA-APP
Two-year funding in place The NSNPHA has secured two-year funding from the Province of Nova Scotia and the Community Housing Transformation Centre. We have developed a detailed and robust work plan to guide the efforts of our board and staff members from 2023-2025. This investment has enabled the NSNPHA to build a solid foundation from which it will support the development and growth of Nova Scotia’s non-profit housing sector.
Branding and Marketing underway The NSNPHA is developing its brand and web presence. We are very excited to have a userfriendly, accessible, informative website to facilitate collaboration, learning, and sharing opportunities related to non-profit housing in Nova Scotia. The NSNHPA will hold a virtual brand and website reveal once these tools are complete. Stay in touch to learn more! Because the NSNPHA is now its own entity, we are building our mailing list. If you received this newsletter from the Coady Institute, please join our mailing list to receive exciting news from the NSNPHA. Do so through our temporary splash page: Coming soon - Nova Scotia Non-Profit Housing (nsnonprofithousing.ca)
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Continue to reach out to underrepresented groups and seek additional input to build deeper understandings and stronger collaborative relationships.
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Establish regional housing networks throughout the province and with African Nova Scotian and Indigenous communities and organizations.
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Finalize our organizational strategic plan.
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Develop policies to guide our organizational development.
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Identify the capacity building priorities and needs of our membership.
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Collaborate and learn from other provincial and national non-profit housing organizations.
NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING SERIES AT CAPE BRETON UNIVERSITY Cape Breton University is pleased to launch, as part of a new professional development and community education initiative, an Affordable Housing Series of microcredentials. The series will address the fundamentals of affordable housing, housing design options, sustainable net-zero housing design, developing an affordable housing project, and housing finance. For more information on this exciting learning opportunity, please visit https://www.cbu.ca/microcredentials/ affordable-housing/.
DISMANTLING BARRIERS We acknowledge the ongoing, systemic barriers that serve to exclude groups in society, and we are committed to working with communities in efforts to overcome and dismantle these barriers. As such, we are particularly interested in co-hosting sessions with diverse and underrepresented groups across the province in ways that work for you. If you work or volunteer to create appropriate, safe, accessible, and affordable housing for people in the following communities: African Nova Scotians and Persons of African Descent, Mi’kmaw and Indigenous, LGBTTQQIAAP, Persons with Disability, Women, Youth, Persons who were Previously Incarcerated, Seniors, People Living with Mental Illness and / or Addictions, Recent Immigrants, Newcomers or Refugees and you are interested in co-hosting an engagement session with us for your organization, please let us know.
CONNECTING If you are working in the non-profit housing sector and want to connect with the Nova Scotia Non-Profit Housing Association, please let us know at info@nsnpha.com. To learn more about the StFX Coady Institute Community Housing Program, visit our web page at https://coady.stfx. ca/community-housing-program/, join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook. com/StFXExtension, or follow us on twitter at https://twitter.com/stfxextension. For more information or to offer input, please contact: Pauline MacIntosh Coady Institute St. Francis Xavier University pmacinto@stfx.ca Phone: 902-867-5130
The NSNPHA is very pleased to announce that the Antigonish Guysborough Black Housing Association is the winner of two tickets to see Michelle Obama at the Halifax Scotiabank Centre on October 18. Thanks so much to all 41 organizations who have joined the NSNPHA to date.