Addressing Canada’s Housing Challenges During First REALTORS Care® Week

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Realtors Care Week
Realtors Care Week
Realtors Care Week
Realtors Care Week

Identifying housing and homelessness-related issues as urgent concerns that are relevant to every REALTOR® and community, we joined the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) to develop and activate the first annual REALTORS Care® Week.  Themed around bringing the comfort of home to those in need, and coinciding with National Housing Day, November 21st, 2019, REALTORS® across Canada rallied together in a national week of awareness building and volunteerism. Through their participation in activities such as shelter revitalizations, affordable housing builds, and blanket and clothing drives, REALTORS® demonstrated their support for families, domestic violence survivors, seniors, indigenous populations, and others facing housing struggles.

Mark Feldman internally launched the REALTORS Care® Week strategy during a CREA national meeting in June, rallying affiliates to action. To watch a clip from the speech, click the video below.

Provincial boards, regional associations, franchises, local brokerages and individual groups of REALTORS® created and activated a wide range of community volunteer events during the week. To get the best snapshot of the week’s activities see #RealtorsCareWeek on both Twitter and Instagram.

The following videos were produced to raise awareness of the realities faced by homeless and housing insecure families. Each REALTOR® hosted conversation explores challenges, insights and ways that REALTORS® can get involved.

Mary Johnson, REALTOR® and President of Kindness Above Everything, a charity aiming to improve the lives of local impoverished families, interviewed Michael Braithwaite, CEO of Blue Door Shelters, a nonprofit providing shelter and services for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The two discussed the growing movement and determination to end the country’s homelessness crisis. Michael shared:

  • Daily, 30,000 Canadians across the country are without a safe place to call home
  • 20% of homelessness in Canada are youth between the ages of 12-26
In a separate interview, REALTOR® and domestic abuse survivor Dena Sicard sat down with Shanon Spencer-Brown, the Executive Director of the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, Canada’s largest public foundation dedicated to funding women’s shelters and violence prevention programs. Together, they discussed the housing challenges faced by domestic violence victims. Shanon shared:

  • On any given night in Canada, approximately 6,300 women and children stay at a women’s shelter
  • At least half of all adult women will experience at least 1 incident of violence in their lifetime
  • 67% of Canadians say they personally know someone who’s been abused

Visit REALTORS Care® Week  for more information about 2019 and for updates regarding 2020.

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