FOCUS - OCTOBER 2018 35 The Scugog Housing Advisory Committee will be host- ing their annual Housing Symposium on November 3 at the Scugog Community Recreation Centre, 1655 Reach St., Port Perry. This year the Symposium will build on the objectives outlined in the Scugog Housing Plan, Housing for All Ages and Stages. The outcomes from previous Symposiums have had a significant impact on the direction of housing activities in Scugog. For example, many will remember the presenta- tion on shared ownership and shared living presented by some of the “Port Perry Golden Girls” living in shared housing on Perry St. This shared housing concept has garnished national media attention including reports from the CBC and CTV news. Momentum for Scugog’s innovative housing has caught the attention of the new CTV show, The Social. The show’s producers played up the Golden Girls angle arriving at the door bearing a cheesecake. The ladies quickly pointed out that they celebrate and commiserate over wine, but they welcomed the cheesecake anyway! The segment featuring Scugog’s very own Golden Girls airs Thursday October 18. Also, as a result of the profile of this home, MPP Effie Triantafilopoulos, Parliamentary Assistant (Long Term Care) to Minister Christine Elliot, will be visiting 100 Perry St. on October 25. She is interested in seeing how the model might support some seniors to care for themselves in the long term while helping to reduce the pending in- crease in government expenditure for long term care. The Housing Symposium provides the Scugog Housing Committee with vital resident feedback on all housing needs, and assisted in informing the housing plan which was approved by Council in spring, 2018.Acomplete copy of the plan can be viewed at scugog.ca/housing. The con- versation on housing continues at this year’s symposium and the committee is once again looking for your ideas and feedback. As population grows there is a continuing impact on housing and a growing need for innovative thinking. This year’s topics will focus on Home Sharing and housing support opportunities. The Housing Symposium welcomes guest speak- ers from various home-share organizations and group programs that facilitates matching renters with similar lifestyle needs. The opening speaker, Alan Robins, Acting Director of Housing Services for Durham, will bring the audience an update on the Regional Task Force report on Affordable and Seniors Housing. Alan will be telling us about some of the housing strategies, partnership and funding opportunities used by other municipalities and new ones available to help in the development of afford- able housing in Scugog. Participants will also hear from Tara McEwan of The Home Share Alliance, serving Hamilton-Wentworth and Halton, Christina Colacicco from HomeShare, an organization that serves Cobourg and Port Hope. These two speakers will talk about the home matching services available, the benefits of this type of shared living and their respective processes to establish such services. Also in attendance will be Greg Bechard, from The Field of Dreams Housing Program in Elmira. Greg will be sharing information about a unique housing model that matches renters who are able to live alone but need some unstructured support with fellow renters who pro- vide support through what they call The Housing and Friendly Visitor Program. To put things in perspective about the need for af- fordable and appropriate housing, representatives of the Community Development Council of Durham (CDCD) will share a study on homelessness. An excerpt from the study defines homelessness as: “An individual or fam- ily without stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means and ability of acquiring it”. This issue then involves many more people than one might think: the elderly mother who cannot live on her own nor afford a retirement home; the young adult youth who returns home to live and is unable to find an afford- able place to live and the people who are waiting for years for supportive housing. We encourage Scugog residents to join in this free event to learn about the many different housing options avail- able and help shape the conversation further about hous- ing needs in our community. Participants will also enjoy a light lunch and chance to win a door prize. For more information on the Housing Symposium or the Housing Plan, please visit Scugog.ca/housing by Martha Casson, Chair, Scugog Housing Symposium Committee Special to Focus on Scugog Scugog housing ideas for all ages and stages influencing the conversation on housing in Ontario. SIGNWORKScanada.com Reach & Northport Rd., Port Perry 905-985-0802 Since 1996 snowmobile lettering PC and Mac REPAIRS Spyware/Virus REMOVAL Data RECOVERY 905-985-0568 info@majortech.ca SERVING SCUGOG & UXBRIDGE TOWNSHIPS Home and Office Visits Available