First Nations Healthy Homes & VisitAble Housing

Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2015

The UBC Learning Circle is pleased to present our first session that covers healthy and accessible homes in First Nations communities. This webinar/video conference will cover a variety of aspects around accessible housing for First Nations people in communities. The discussion will be focused on concepts around policy and accessibility of housing. This session will touch on upkeep and care of homes in communities to mitigate health concerns. The BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society has a task force and we are pleased to present Rosie Holmes Project Coordinator, Linda Ross Property Manager, Renee Ahmadi, UNBC Masters student and Janice Rose Band Administrator from Esquimalt Nation –all involved as project participants and partners in First Nations populace. The presenters at the webinar are from the First Nations Visitability task force. The task force’s is committed to bringing awareness of VisitAble Housing to First Nations communities across BC by highlighting lived experiences, reviewing current policies and practices, impacts, barriers, and best practices.

UBCLC welcomes you to discuss how homes can affect our health in First Nation communities. If you are Band Leadership, Administrators, Executive Directors, Housing Managers, healthcare professionals, nurses, families, counsellors, advocates, community members helping community members, all are welcome and will be able to participate in the session.

Learning Objectives:

learn the concept of building accessible homes
the benefits of accessible homes
to take VisitAble housing from concept into policy in FN communities
limitations in communities around housing upkeep
other common issues to do with housing and how to mitigate hazards

About the Presenters:

Linda Ross (Esquimalt) has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba, and has certified as a Managing Broker through the University of British Columbia. Linda was the Executive Director of the M’akola Group of Societies for eleven years. In this position, she managed almost 600 units of Urban and Rural housing; administrated Social Service programs (founder of Hulitan Social Services); and acted as part of a development consultant team for the construction of over 300 townhouses, as well as overseeing renovation work. Linda was the President of the Founding Board of the Aboriginal Housing Management Association’s (AHMA) for BC and the Yukon for 6 years, as well as Acting as AHMA’s CEO for 6 years working with the Board to develop an Urban and Rural Aboriginal Housing Self Management model. Linda acts as a Consultant to the First nations Market Housing Fund working with Nations across Canada building capacity in the areas of governance, human resources, housing policy, leadership and developing housing authorities.

Renée Ahamdi grew up in the small remote Tahltan community of TelegraphCreek B.C., observing first hand how housing design impacted the quality of life of families with unique health needs. Renée is currently working on an exploratory visit-Ability study with Sc’ianew and Esquimalt nations looking at the relationships between home design and quality of life for those living on reserve with mobility challenges.

Rosie Holmes (MA) is a Project Coordinator at the British Columbia Aboriginal Network on Disability Society. Through this national initiative, Rosie Holmes is the VisitAbility Project Coordinator working as part of the First Nations Task Force. The project intends to promote VisitAble Housing in First Nations Communities presenters at the webinar are from the BC First Nations VisitAbility task force. In the project Rosie works with six task forces across Canada.

Youn-Young Park (via webinar)is a Senior Researcher and Project Manager at the Canadian Centre on Disability Studies (CCDS). CCDS is a consumer-directed, national organization dedicated to research, education and information dissemination on disability issues. It promotes full and equal participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of society – locally, nationally and internationally. She is the project manager of a national initiative, the VisitAbility Project. The project intends to promote VisitAble Housing in Canada. In the project she works with six task forces across Canada.