Meagan Miller:

There's a way a crisis can sorta sneak up on you. It might start off small, but then it stretches on so long, you kinda forget it's there. Until it’s impossible to ignore.

[Music: “Lemon and Melon,” a 99 bpm instrumental track with cello and electric guitar fades in]

For me: that’s the housing crisis. My memory begins as a kid with the housing bubble burst in the early 2000s. From there, there was that weird moment when millennials were told we couldn’t afford homes because we spent too much on avocado toast. But, fast forward to now. And Canada has one of the most expensive housing markets in the world. You don’t have to look far to see it.

Cities across the country have had a rise in visible homelessness. And 1 in 3 Canadians report being worried about affording housing in the coming months. While this housing crisis has, understandably, been framed around the shortage of affordable housing, there’s another side that often gets overlooked: the shortage of accessible homes.

Around 27% of Canadians have a disability. That’s more than 1 in 4 people. Yet, the majority of our housing doesn’t account for this. Here in Edmonton, it’s a monumental challenge to find a place that is barrier-free or even marginally adapted. And when you add affordability into the equation, it’s basically nonexistent. Except in the community housing sector.

Community housing—also known as social or affordable housing—has done the most to try and provide accessible units. And, as the name suggests, it’s meant to be affordable, too. But here’s the thing: the demand for these units far outstrips the supply. And even those units that are labeled ‘accessible’? They don’t always meet the specific needs of the people who are supposed to live in them.

Despite all this, community housing still holds a ton of potential to help tackle the housing crisis—especially for people with disabilities. The problem is, unlocking that potential. That’s gonna take a lot of work. So, what does that work look like? How can the community housing sector actually meet the needs of its diverse residents? And, more importantly, how can we improve housing options for people with disabilities across the city?

Meagan Miller:

I’m Meagan Miller

Zachary Weeks:

I’m Zachary Weeks

Meagan Miller:

And this is

Together:

Accessing Home

[Music: fades out]

Meagan Miller:

I learned the importance of accessibility early on. My mom’s a nurse and my dad sells medical equipment. So, growing up, I spent a lot of time after school rolling around in wheelchairs and driving scooters in the store parking lot. But also, my parents have had their own challenges. Injuries, including double broken wrists. Knee replacements. Hip replacements. And other changes that come along with age. So, I’ve seen firsthand how home modifications can make a huge difference. How zero-step entrances can make a home safer. And how accessibility, in general, makes life easier for everyone.

[Music: “Pop Vibration”, an ambient instrumental track that sound like twinkling stars fades in]

Because of this, accessibility is a focus in my research.

I’m a masters’ student in Human Geography at the University of Alberta. And I study the accessibility of Edmonton’s community housing. But, here’s the thing—I’m currently able-bodied. And, while we’re all going to experience disability at some point in our lives, I want to make sure that I’m diving into it the right way. So, in the spirit of ‘Nothing About Us Without Us,’ I’ve asked my pal and badass advocate, Zachary Weeks, to help.

Zachary Weeks:

So, I’m Zachary Weeks. I am an Edmontonian, just a regular guy. I happen to have cerebral palsy. I use a power wheelchair full time and sort of found his space to lend my voice and experience to a variety of different issues that I faced along the way here in Alberta, and one of them is obviously housing, so.

Meagan Miller:

And of course, number one Oilers fan

Zachary Weeks:

Of course. Go Oilers! We're bringing the cup home this year.

[Music: fade out]

Meagan Miller:

[laughs]

But, um, the way that I got you involved in this project. You're one of my accessibility advisors on my thesis, and that's also kind of the work that you do as well. Like you're not just a person that lends your voice here and there. You're a big advocate in our community.

Zachary Weeks:

Well, thank you for the kind words, but. You know, I didn't do it alone. There's a lot of big voices in the scene, if you will. So I'm just happy to lend my voice, and what not where I can.

Meagan Miller:

So, Zach’s going to weave in his voice throughout this series. But for the most part, we’re going to be hearing from people with disabilities living in Edmonton’s community housing sector. The truth is, when we talk about accessibility, it’s the people who are living in these spaces, day in, day out, who are the experts. So the most important thing we can do is listen to their experiences

Zachary Weeks:

Amen sister.

Yeah, no, I totally agree. And, I mean respectfully, you know, the housing providers have their platforms as you say. You know they're, they're out there promoting their thing. And hopefully we can use this podcast to enlighten folks on the challenges around accessible housing and how we can make it better. Because those housing providers do good work, but they can do a lot better work. You know,at least the way I was raised. You shut up and listen until you know what the issue is, and then you help address the issue, because quite often you're not the expert in the room. And unless you're living in that situation, specifically around housing, you don't get a full grasp of what it's like to live in those housing options. So I'm a big proponent of walking the talk, or rolling, or whatever it is. And I think that's sort of where we need to end up.

Meagan Miller:

And another quick note: my research, and this podcast, focus specifically on people with physical and/or sensory disabilities. So, that doesn’t cover the full spectrum of disability. There’s a lot more to the conversation, and we don’t want to pretend that this is, by any means, the whole picture.

Zachary Weeks:

You know, you gotta start somewhere. And honestly, in my experience, the physical disability piece, when it comes to housing, is the hardest to accommodate, just because you know you have to have so many extra layers to access. So once you deal with, you know, a person such as myself, who has limited mobility and a power chair, for example. After that, the hill gets a little bit easier to climb, I guess you could say, with respect to, you know, the other types of disabilities following up. And easier to accommodate.

I mean, I sort of compare it to, you know, my work on society. You know, if we take care of our most vulnerable people to the best of our abilities, the other folks will be taken care of just as well.

Meagan Miller:

That’s the thing we’re trying to get at here. It’s not just about housing—it’s about how we build communities where everyone is accounted for, where we design spaces that work for all of us, not just some of us.

[Music: “Lemon and Melon” alt minimalist version fades in]

And to get there, we need to break down why accessible housing, especially in Edmonton’s community sector, is so hard to secure.

And, it’s complicated, perhaps not surprisingly. So, that’s why we’re going to spend the next few episodes unpacking it, piece by piece.

In this first episode, we’re going to look at how income and social assistance make it harder to find accessible housing. In the next, we’ll turn our attention to the buildings themselves and inaccessible design. Then we’ll tackle bureaucracy and housing management. And after that, we’ll explore how we’re all part of the problem. Because, yes, every single one of us is entangled in this issue. And in the final episode, we’ll look ahead at potential solutions—what needs to change and how we can move forward together. Because, as Edmontonians for life, we want the best for our city and our community.

[Music: fades out]

Karan Smith:

Yeah. When I was in university, I lived in an old house right by the University of Alberta. And I shared that with six other people. So that was my first introduction to cooperative living.

Meagan Miller:

This is Karan Smith. I spoke with her at her home in Artspace Co-op. When I visited her, it was kinda an active construction site. So, the audio quality is a little off. Anyway, Karan’s been a resident since the building opened in 1990. And she moved in to accommodate her disabilities.

Karan Smith:

I have a couple of disabilities. So I was born with spina bifida. And I also have Parkinson's disease. So I moved into Artspace, because I was not able to walk up the stairs in the old house. So, I moved into Artspace because they have a program here that offers support services for the people that live in the adapted units. So 1/3 of the units are adapted for and used by people with disabilities. And then if you need assistance with something. Like when I first moved in here, I was walking with crutches. And I got around pretty good. So I didn't need much help. But as I got older, and then I got Parkinson's, it became necessary for me to get some help where I live. And so we have a program here where we essentially share the services of SAIL, which is the name of the company, so that we can all live here and get the help we need on a 24 hour basis.

Meagan Miller:

SAIL stands for Support for Artspace Independent Living Inc. It’s a program supported and funded through Alberta Health Services that does what the name suggests: help members who would otherwise not be able to live on their own, live independently. Sp. healthcare aides might provide assistance with daily activities like personal care, meal prep, laundry, light housekeeping. The list goes on.

Karan Smith:

And it just makes it possible for me to live in the community. Whereas 30 years ago, when I moved in here, there was nothing out there available for me in this state. I would have ended up in a nursing home at the age of 30. Which would not have been fun. So, this was a new thing back then. And I think it’s really the best place to live. I really like the combination of the supports and the living space. It makes things really good. Yeah, I’m a real strong supporter of cooperative housing.

Meagan Miller:

Karan was actually part of the building committee of Artspace. She and other members contributed to the design to help make it more accessible.

Karan Smith:

I became involved in the building before the building was here. So I was involved in the building committee, where we figured out what we would need to make it more accessible. We had things like, light switches are closer down there, they're down the wall. Electric plugins are up. So you can reach them from a seated position. And the closets are, the bars are lower. So you can put things in and out of the closet easily. There's cut outs under the sinks, so that you can get right up to the counters in your wheelchair. And when we built the place, it didn't cost any more to put those additions in. I think we should actually get builders to build them so that they're usable by people in wheelchairs, because when it comes to actually doing the process, it's easier.

[Music: “Home Home at Last”, a romantic guitar track fades in]

We really did a lot of research to try and figure out what we needed. We didn't know because this didn't exist before.

Meagan Miller:

Artspace is a kind of unicorn when it comes to housing for people with disabilities. It’s one of the few buildings in our city that blends accessible design with independent living supports. There are two other buildings that do the same—Abby Road Co-op and Creek Side Condos. Together, the three of them are sometimes called the ‘triad.’ But the main thing is that they’re all outliers in Edmonton’s housing landscape.

[Music: fades out]

I mean, take something as simple as step-free entrances. How many places don’t have them? If I think about my own circle of friends and family, I can count maybe two places that don’t—and they’re long-term care facilities.

Zachary Weeks:

Yeah, so, that's very like Elementary in terms of what accessibility is. And to be fair, it's a very fluid definition, right? Even within the disability culture, the community, we always have this conversation of, well, what is accessibility? The way I view it, is meaningful access, right? So what, what is, is meaningful to that individual to achieve independence.

Meagan Miller:

And that’s where things get complicated. Because, even if we agree on what accessibility should look like, the process of finding a home that matches those needs? Well, that’s another challenge.

Zachary Weeks:

Yeah, so to clarify, I guess the process is there is no process. So in Edmonton, you know, there's no like registry for accessible housing, as one might think. Like, oh, I need an accessible home, let me hop on Google and see. So you know what, what might be listed as wheelchair accessible is not wheelchair accessible. Maybe there's a zero grade entrance. Or a barrier free entrance, also known as. But, the doorway is not wide enough to fit the wheelchair, right? So therefore that option is gone, but. So you get into the suite or wherever it is. Now, can you access the washroom? What does an accessible washroom entail? And again, it depends on what your definition of accessible is. My end goal is that everything is universally designed, right? That's the epitome, the platinum standard of design.

Meagan Miller:

The thing is, this kind of accessibility isn’t common in housing. And you’re really only going to get it if you build your own home, which isn’t an option for most people anyway. Which leads us back to community housing.

Zachary Weeks:

Sadly, community housing is really one of the only choices people with disabilities have. Right now, there's not. Very little choice. You know.

[Music: “Lemon and Melon” alt minimalist version fades in]

Meagan Miller:

Why is that? To understand why that is, we need to unpack what community housing actually is. And why its made the most effort when it comes to accessibility

Damian Collins:

So in Canada, we have about 66% of households that own their own homes. So those are the homeowners. We have about 30% of households who rent in the private market sector and pay whatever rents the market demands, and then the remaining 3.5 to 4% is the community housing sector.

[Music: fades out]

So if you're not a homeowner and you're not in the private rental market, pretty much by default, you're in community housing.

Meagan Miller:

This is Dr. Damian Collins.

Damian Collins:

I'm a Professor of Human Geography at the University of Alberta. I'm also the Director of Community Housing Canada. And I am your master's co supervisor.

Meagan Miller:

Yeah, that is true. [laughs]

Um, I guess, to get started, I just have some like general questions about community housing. First off, what is community housing, like the term especially, tell me about that.

Damian Collins:

Yeah, so the way we introduce this is that we say community housing is an umbrella term. So, that means it includes a lot of different categories of housing. I think the national housing strategy really brought the term into focus. It did exist before that, but it wasn't necessarily commonly known or commonly used, even within Canada. And so yeah, the national housing strategy, when it was released in November 2017 kind of really clearly laid out that these different types of non-market housing were going to be known as community housing.

Meagan Miller:

So, Damian explains that there are three main types or subcategories of community housing. This includes social housing, also known as public housing, which is owned by governments or nonprofits and provides rents geared to the income of the tenants. This type is primarily associated with lowest income earners. The second is affordable housing, which is offered on a non-profit basis, often with rent that is reduced by like 10, 20 or even 30 percent. And the third broad category is housing run by cooperatives, AKA co-op housing.

Damian Collins:

What distinguishes all the different types of community housing is that they run on a not for profit basis. So there's no profit motive, and there's no profit included in the rents or in the prices that people pay. So there, right off the bat is one of the most important savings. The second thing we can do to think about the affordability of community housing is when we have housing, there's kind of two main types of costs. There's the capital cost of building the housing, and then there's the operating cost of maintaining it over time. And on both of those cost fronts, community housing has certain advantages. So for example, if there's an organization that's looking to create new community housing, they're going to have that capital cost, and that can be reduced by, for example, receiving low cost or no cost land from a government. They can also access much lower interest rate loans to build that housing, and they might also have some grants that they don't have to repay that contribute to that. And then once the building's  up and running, it has the tenants in place. They're paying rents, typically they would have some sort of subsidy for their operating costs as well. So when you combine those things and you also remove the profit motive, that's basically how community housing is more affordable than other types of housing that you would pay for in the market.

Meagan Miller:

But this still begs the question: why does community housing make the most effort in providing accessible housing?

Damian Collins:

I think there's a couple of reasons we can point to for why community housing is doing better than most of the market housing. The first would be that when governments provide grants for construction in particular, so those are the capital costs. Often they include accessibility requirements. And those requirements might be, for example, that 20% of the units are universally accessible, and those requirements are less common in the private sector. So the government kind of uses its funding as a leverage point to require more units of community housing to be accessible and to meet a higher standard than what you generally see in the market.

The second point is that there is also more demand for accessible units in community housing, and that's because we see that people with disabilities are somewhat over represented in the community housing sector versus the housing market more generally, and that's due to the general trend where people on people with disabilities are more likely to experience living on low incomes or insecure incomes. It's important we recognize that's just a statistical trend. It doesn't mean that every person with a disability has a low income. It just means that overall, people with disabilities are more likely to live on a low income or to have an insecure income, which means that they are more likely to be in need of community housing.

Meagan Miller:

Yeah, and then also the self reinforcing sort of factor, where if they're the only place that's providing accessible units, then you're going to find more people that are looking to live in community housing, because that's their only option.

Damian Collins:

Yeah, that's right. And so that's kind of a variation of the build it and they will come phenomenon. So yeah, if you, if you supply accessible units, then people with disabilities will be looking for those units.

Meagan Miller:

Of course, community housing is not the same across the country. Regional policies, demographic needs, local housing markets, etc., all contribute to how the sector functions. And it creates a specific context for each province or city.

Damian Collins:

So overall in Canada, about, as I mentioned, 3.5 possibly 4% of all housing is community housing. Here in Edmonton, it's actually a little lower, closer to two and a half percent. And Alberta as a whole doesn't have the same tradition of community housing that some other provinces do, most notably Quebec, British Columbia and to a certain extent, Ontario as well. So our community housing stock is somewhat smaller as a proportion of the whole. The second thing we could say is that our government isn't really directly involved in the provision of community housing in Edmonton, at least not anymore. What we see is that there's a number of large non governmental organizations, non profit organizations that run most of the community housing in Edmonton, including groups like Civida and HomeEd.

The last time I looked, Civida provides about 5000 units of community housing in the Edmonton region, some of which they own, and others of which they operate on behalf of the government, the provincial government, which retains the underlying ownership.

Meagan Miller:

But we also have a number of cooperatives, where residents collectively own and manage their housing. There are over 35 housing co-ops listed on The Northern Alberta Cooperative Housing Association website. Which, despite its name, focuses primarily on Edmonton and the surrounding area, like Sherwood Park. And to switch gears here, slightly. I want to explain a little more about how co-ops are able to provide affordable housing. They often require two different subsidies from the government. One to help fund the initial construction, and another for ongoing operation costs.

When I was talking to Karan. Remember, Karan? She offered some more insight into this, and how ArtSpace is funded.

Karan Smith:

The government does provide 50% subsidized housing in our co-op, and I'm not sure about other ones. We have 88 units. So that's 44 units that are subsidized. And half of those, again, were kept aside for people with disabilities, because they would be harder to house.

And, it was supposed to be. It’s called Artspace. Cause it was supposed to be like an artist community. In order to get the government subsidies, you had to offer something to get the government to put the money into it. And we decided that that would be accessible housing, because there's such a lack of it. So we set up the program, and then we had to, we had to picket to get our funding.

Meagan Miller:

You had to picket?

Karan Smith:

Yeah, our first $100,000 was given to us by Nancy Bukowski, way back 30 years ago. And they kept telling us, we would be getting money, but it wouldn't confirm. So we devised a scenario where we carried this coffin across the high level bridge to the legislative grounds and threw our hopes and dreams into the coffin. And, you know, very symbolically. It was great fun.

Meagan Miller:

That is incredible.

Karan Smith:

And the next day, we got our money. And so we could open the doors. And it's been a ride ever since. Yeah. The coffin. We had to make one because I just thought I could borrow and but no, they don't do that. So we made one. And for probably 10 years after that it served as my coffin table in my apartment.

Meagan Miller:

Amazing.

Karan Smith:

It was a lot of fun.

[Music: “Pop Vibrations” fades in]

Meagan Miller:

Listeners, I have tried to find photos of this coffin. Unfortunately, none exists. But I did come across an article from the Edmonton Journal that describes the funeral protest. And it features a photo of the late Ken Thomas with his nephew on his lap, dressed as superman. They’re holding a sign that says Artspace + Homecare = Independence. It’s pretty cute.

But the take away of all of this is how it's not just accessibility that's important. It’s the affordability too.

It’s not a secret that people with disabilities are overrepresented in poverty. Mainly due to inadequate social services. Here in Alberta, we have AISH: Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped. Brutal name, I know. And the max living allowance is around $1800/month, depending on eligibility.

Zachary Weeks:

Which, by the way, is the best, the best there is in Canada, you know. And we gotta tout that every chance we get. That's what the government always reminds us of, as well, you know, we're well above the other provinces. Yeah well, what they always failed to consider is that it's still not raising people out of poverty. Like, don't, don't brag about a flat tire, right? Like, I don’t know.

Meagan Miller:

Yeah, it's wild to be like, yeah, we're. We're doing the best in Canada, and our best is below the poverty line.

Zachary Weeks:

Yeah, that's exactly what I was trying to get at. I don't know why I compared it to a flat tire, but, you know, it's at least we got a tire. Be grateful that you have a tire, even though it's flat and useless. Right? So. That’s the moral of the story with AISH.

And in today's economy with rent skyrocketing and landlords jacking rents everywhere, I mean, that can be your whole AISH payment. So people are left in a situation where they have the choice of paying the rent or eating, and that is not what I think Canada is about. We're supposed to be a first world country. And I go back to, you know, my saying of you're only as good as what you treat your most vulnerable, not saying that all disabled people are vulnerable and, oh, we're fragile. No, give me a break.

Meagan Miller:

But also, people with disabilities often have more expenses too.

[Music: fades out]

Zachary Weeks:

Yeah, I mean, there are a ton of hidden expenses when it comes to living with a disability. And it depends on the disability, right? So, for example, just going off of my situation, because I'm only one experience in this realm of the disability world, you know. I need a wheelchair. So, for starters, the chairs usually start $23,000 plus. That's equivalent to a car, a brand new car sometimes. You know, you need a wheelchair accessible van, if you’re able to afford it. That starts at $70,000. So now we are into BMW range. [laughs] Whatever that looks like. Never been in a BMW. Anyways. Then you know, there's, there's, there's medical supplies, so gloves and catheters. And I was fortunate enough to be involved with Push the CBC series. If you haven't checked it out, check it out.

Meagan Miller:

CBC Gem

Zachary Weeks:

Yeah, there you go. And one of the issues that my friend Bean brought forward in the show that she spearheaded, was around the cost to pee. And, you know, it's on average $1,700 so that's like nearly a mortgage payment. It is a mortgage payment for some. And by the way, the government only had that time gave you one catheter a day. I think it was or something like that. So you're reusing the catheters which is not hygienic, and that causes more health issues. And then there's incidentals, you know, so, wheelchair repairs, right? It's like maintaining a car, right, so.

[Music: “Lemon and Melon” alt minimalist version fades in]

And again, this is just my experience with disabilities. Other people have more expenses, depending on their needs. So.

Meagan Miller:

All of this, again means that many people with disabilities have very limited budgets when it comes to housing. Even when they might have access to subsidized rent options.

Meagan Miller:

I guess in terms of like me speaking, is there anything that I can do to ensure that your hearing aid works.

Skyler Morgan:

Just as long as you keep looking at me when you're speaking so I can see your lips.

Meagan Miller:

Okay, sounds good.

[Music: fades out]

Skyler Morgan:

[laughs]

Meagan Miller:

I wish I knew how to do lip reading. I'm sure it's difficult.

Skyler Morgan:

It is difficult, especially with murmurers. The ones that murmur, or mumble. Or when they keep turning their faces away from you. Like, what the heck are you saying? Look at me! [laughs]

Meagan Miller:

This is Skyler Morgan.

Skyler Morgan:

I am a 44 year-old trans mother and grandmother. I also rescue animals and re-home them to find better homes. I also fight for disabled rights and I fight for low income housing because I am low income. I also fight for trans rights. Because it's a horrible world we live in nowadays.

I have severe sciatic nerve damages, fibromyalgia, a bunch of chronic conditions. I became disabled because of my domestic violence. I was protecting my child and then I got in the way of my ex going after my child and he got me instead. But I'd much rather have it that way. Anyway.

Meagan Miller:

Skyler and her son Ryan started living in Civida seven years ago.

Skyler Morgan:

I'm here because I need to be here. You know, I can't afford an apartment on my own with my things. And definitely nowadays, apartments are like $1,200 that would take every last cent I have every last cent. I would have like $300 left for everything else.

Meagan Miller:

I spoke with Skyler back in early 2024, just after AISH was reindexed. Thus the slightly different numbers she gave. And I spoke with her at her place, which is a two-level split with the bedrooms and only bathroom upstairs. And to put it very lightly, stairs are not ideal for someone with mobility issues. Even on the best days, it’s a challenge for Skyler.

Skyler Morgan:

There’s too many stairs in this complex. And you know, when I can't walk, do you know how to get up there? I just slide all the way up. I have to slide, crawl, and it's not great. And my leg goes dead a few times a year.

Meagan Miller:

We’ll discuss Skyler’s home more in a future episode. But for now, I want to focus on financials.

[Music: “Throughput”, a track that features electric guitars and rhodes]

Skyler’s home is rent geared to income, which is good because it’s less than the average market rental. And that’s necessary due to her limited funds. But there’s a trade off. If Skyler’s income goes up, so does her rent. It will always be proportional to that. And, for Skyler, this makes her feel trapped.

Skyler Morgan:

You know, I want to get out of Civida one day and run my own business, this is the whole point, I'm trying to stay here as long as I possibly can. So Ryan and I can buy a house with a piece of land and I can make my own greenhouse on it and run my own business from, you know, that's the goal here, you know. But it seems like every time that I get a little ahead, Civida wants to get you know, they want to take 30% of my part time job, my part time job, they want to take 30% of it. You already get rent. I'm going to work to help offset money. I'm not supposed to work because of my conditions. But I try anyway. I'm trying to be as very handi capable as possible, not disabled. Yes, technically the same thing. But there's definitely a difference, you know what I mean? And this whole government, and Civida as well, if they actually gave us things to implement to make us handi capable, instead of disabled, it would be a lot better because there are a lot of capable disabled people out there.

[Music: fades out]

Meagan Miller:

I think there's this idea that people paying rent geared to income are somehow getting a break. Like, because their rent is subsidized, they have more money to spend on other things. But I want to point out that, to even qualify for that subsidized housing, you have to be really low-income. And, even though your rent is cheaper, that doesn’t necessarily mean that anything else still isn’t. Basic living expenses–like food, transportation, healthcare—can all still be a struggle. And sure, all of this is context-dependent. But, what I want to get at here is just the issue of affordability and accessibility, and how they have to go hand-in-hand. Because, people end up putting up with inaccessible or inadequate housing, because it’s all they can afford. It’s not that accessibility isn’t important. It’s just that, when it comes down to it, you’re forced to make a choice: either get by with what’s available, or struggle to stay in a place that  you can’t afford. Neither is a good option.

Affordability is an aspect of accessibility. They are interconnected. And community housing is where these two concepts are meant to align. At least in theory.

[Music: “Hard Living”, a bluesy instrumental track with a steady rhythm fades in]

But in reality? It’s not guaranteed. And sure, community housing has done more than other sectors, but there are still a lot of issues, especially when it comes to the buildings themselves.

Next time, we’ll look at the physical barriers to accessibility.

Accessing Home is created by me. And is supported by Community Housing Canada, a research partnership funded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. My research is also supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

Music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions, a repository of free music for podcasters. It also features Hard Living by John Bartman from freemusicarchive.org.

Big thanks to Karan Smith, Skyler Morgan and Dr. Damian Collins for speaking with me in this episode.

And shout out to artist extraordinaire, Amanda Chewlos for helping out with the podcast visuals.

I’m Meagan Miller

Zachary Weeks:

I’m Zachary Weeks

Meagan Miller:

Thanks for listening