Join MNPHA for a virtual Lunch and Learn session. We will talk about energy retrofit basics and the new funding (grants and loans) available for retrofitting projects in this 1.5-hour webinar.
The event is free for MNPHA members, and $30+GST for non-members.
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MNPHA is offering the Accessible Customer Service Standard Course for our members, as a self-directed course. This course should take 45 to 90 minutes to complete. When it is completed, you will receive a participation certificate from Manitoba Possible.
The Accessibility for Manitobans Act became law in Manitoba in December 2013. It establishes a process to remove barriers affecting persons with disabilities and many other citizens. One of the accessibility standards is about Customer Service, which includes all types of programs and services that can be accessed by the public. This course covers foundational knowledge for all staff and volunteers of the housing sector to understand the Customer Service Standard.
Cost: Available to MNPHA Members Only, $6 (to cover certificate cost and related fees)
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In this new normal, we are committed to creating a program with inspiration, education, and networking. 100% of MNPHA Members who completed our survey said that they would participate in an online conference series for 2020.
We will be reaching out to previous years' sponsors and trade show attendees in the next two weeks with opportunities as a: - Conference Sponsor - Series Sponsor - Education Session Sponsor
Why Sponsor? 1. Sponsorship is a tangible way to show your commitment to affordable housing
in Manitoba, and building the capacity of the non-profit housing sector.
2. Sponsorship is an effective way to promote your brand, organization, services,
or programs, with a wide range of attendees.
3. Sponsorship allows you to build contacts faster with senior executives, Board
Members, maintenance managers, direct service staff of non-profit and
cooperative housing providers; government representatives, and private sector
partners.
4. Sponsorship provides complementary registration for your staff team or board
members, to gain insights and understanding of the future of the community
housing sector in Manitoba.
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MNPHA's website has the most up-to-date COVID-19 resources and information relevant to non-profit housing providers, including information on Federal Government resources for landlords and tenants, Residential Tenancies Branch, Public Health, resources for employers, and more.https://mnpha.com/covid-19/
Recent COVID-19 Updates
CEWS (75% wage subsidy) extended to December One big change to the program is that it will now introduce a sliding scale and some eligibility improvements to be more accessible to a broader range of employers. Specific changes include: - Extension until December 19, 2020
- Providing a gradually decreasing base subsidy to all eligible employers that are experiencing a decline in revenue, including those with less than 30% revenue loss
- Top-up subsidy of up to an additional 25% for employers that have been most adversely affected
- Provide certainty to employers who have already made business decisions for July and August by ensuring they will not receive a subsidy rate lower than they would have under the previous rules
Back to Work in Manitoba Program
- Promotes the hiring and re-hiring of employees in the private and non-for-profit sectors.
- Program covers 50% of wage costs between July 16 and October 31, 2020, to a maximum of $5,000 per worker
- Businesses must not have received support from other government subsidies for the same positions
- Start date must be July 16, 2020 or later
- Application must be submitted on or before October 1, 2020
- Program funds up to 10 workers, even if they received support under the Manitoba Summer Student Recovery Jobs Program and Manitoba Back to Work This Summer Program
- Payments will be made as a lump sum upon proof of payment of wages
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Looking for Funding? Meet The Community Housing Transformation Centre
Step 1 Identify Your IdeaHave you identified an issue within your organization? Your project needs to identify the issue or challenge that you want to address and propose a method that will lead to impactful change.
Step 2 Be Creative! Be Innovative!What can you do differently in order to address the issue at hand? Projects need to include new approaches and/or tools within the organization or the community housing sector. This does not necessarily mean that the methods are new altogether but, they have to be new inthe context of your project.
Step 3 Evaluate Transformational ImpactWill your project lead to sustainable and significant impact? For example, will it result in better involvement of your tenants within their housing? Will it create a strengthened and more efficient organization? Will there be more housing units built? Will it make the community housing sector more resilient? If you answered yes to at least one of these questions, then you are definitely on the right track.
Step 4 Call to Discuss Your Idea
At the Centre, we can assist you with the application process. Please call us and talk to our Program Managers. They will help you formulate ideas and define innovative methods. You could then benefit from one of our grants.
Phone : 1-514-360-3967 * Toll Free : 1-833-360-3967
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MNPHA is pleased to announce that we will be launching our Building Boards program this Fall. With financial support from the Winnipeg Foundation and Assiniboine Credit Union, new and experienced members of Board of Directors of housing organizations will receive training and resources for:
- Governance
- Effective Organization
- Working with an ED/Manager/Property Management Company
- Bylaws, Policies, and Legal Requirements
- Strategic Planning
- Financial Oversight
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Ask the Expert: Accommodation: Talking it Out
In many provinces flexibility is going to be a reality. Employers need to reach out to their employees to see how this is going to affect them. Talk through options for part time work, modified duties, or just a friendly ear so they can vent (just a little).
It is so important to think long-term about the organization's needs even if the current financial status is top of mind. Of course no one needs an employee who is struggling to get their work completed, but if that person is doing whatever they can (waking up at 5am, working out childcare arrangements with people in their bubble, allowing their kids to raid the cookie jar during video calls) this individual requires understanding, and maybe accommodation, but not discipline.
Accommodation means that the organization works with the employee to design a meaningful job that they can accomplish. It is a legal requirement under all provincial and federal Human Rights legislation where family status is a protected trait. |
| CHRA has submitted a brief to the House of Commons Finance Committee as part of the Committee's annual pre-budget consultation process in advance of the 2021 federal budget. CHRA's overlying theme is that investments in affordable housing should be the key focus of a post-pandemic economic stimulus package. Specifically, CHRA calls for that stimulus policy to include 4 components:
- An urban, rural and northern Indigenous housing policy as envisioned by the "For Indigenous, By Indigenous" proposal released by the CHRA Indigenous Caucus.
- Greater supply of new affordable housing
- Creation of a new "Property Acquisition Program" to provide support to community housing to acquire available distressed properties.
- Revamping the mandate of the Federal Lands Initiative to allow a greater supply of land to be transferred to community housing providers.
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MNPHA and Members in the News
Nowhere to Go: Advocates Hope COVID-19 Will Force Governments to Finally Address Canada's Affordable Housing Crisis
Christina Maes Nino, executive director of the Manitoba Non-Profit Housing Association...says provincial governments must monitor their respective tenant tribunal processes for potential abuses and speed up mediation until they can find more immediate housing solutions. "The non-profit sector is surprisingly skilled at adaptation," she says. "What the sector struggles with is long-term planning. The best thing organizations can do is talk to each other and learn from each other." In Winnipeg, non-profit Widlake Properties Inc. used existing connections to build and open a 95-unit apartment for seniors without government support, although, as board member Pete Sanderson says, provincial grants had been requested. Nevertheless, doors opened in November 2019, with about 30% of units subsidized, but COVID-19 meant signing up new residents came to a screeching halt. As of May, Wildlake still had 55 units to fill. The venture was designed "with a financial cushion" and the project should qualify for a rebate from the province, Sanderson says; in the short term, the group is in a comfortable position. "The model we followed did work. We do believe it could be done all over the country." Read the Full Article Here |
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Volunteer Manitoba Upcoming Training Calendar
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Right to Home Series: Videos Available Online
From July 27-31, The Canadian Urban Institute and partners held a series of videos and online discussions on what's working, what's not, and what's next, as we (re)imagine the right to home.
The program includes:
- What is the right to housing and why does it matter? Lessons from around the world
- Homeless during a pandemic: What are the challenges and looming threats?
- Different futures: How do we (re)imagine housing in a pandemic world?
- How can the right to housing equip local governments to end homelessness?
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August Picture of the Month: IRCOM
Gardening can be done in spaces large and small. IRCOM has been sharing lots of inspiring photos of their patio gardens on social media.
Follow them at
IRCOM also delivers food hampers to families in need, develops partnerships to provide beds to new tenants, and uses its social media and other platforms to advocate for immigrants and refugees.
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Picture of the Month Feature! MNPHA's team has seen all the interesting, fun, and innovative things you do to improve the lives of tenants, your staff teams, and the communities around you. We wanted to find a way to share this regularly so members can learn from each other.
Newsletters include "Pictures of the Month" - no idea is too simple or too complex. If you are doing something you think should be shared with your colleagues in the non-profit housing sector, send a photo and brief description to us by August 28 to be included in the September newsletter.
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Did you know that MNPHA's job postings are the most "clicked" item in our newsletter?
Do you have a position you are trying to fill in your organization? MNPHA is always accepting job and volunteer postings for display on our website.
The Job Board is located under the Resources tab on the To have your position added to the board, send the pertinent information to:
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Are you on Facebook?
MNPHA is too.
Click HERE to visit our page. |
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