Launch Kawartha opens Centre for Housing Innovation to help address affordable housing crisis

Launch Kawartha officially launched their new Centre for Housing Innovation on July 24.

The project is the culmination of partnerships between Launch, Norsemen Homes, Hōm Design and Drafting, 3 Way Drywall, Cormor, Kawartha Controls, and Rent to Grow Homes.

The goal of the project is to bring more affordable housing to Kawartha Lakes, primarily through the introduction of additional dwelling units. These are small homes that can be placed in a variety of locations, including in backyards if there’s enough space with a valid permit.

Corey Norman, executive director of Launch Kawartha, said that since joining the team two years ago, Launch has been working towards this moment. “One of the first things we looked at was the barriers that entrepreneurs are facing in our community.” Specifically, they wanted to look at the barriers that were preventing businesses and entrepreneurs from coming to the area.

They noticed that housing was the number one obstacle. “Employees had to turn down jobs because they couldn’t find a house or a place to rent, or they had to rent someplace far away,” Norman said. “I found myself also working with a lot of businesses who are in the space of housing and trying to address this topic.”

David Pereira, managing partner at Rent Grow Homes, is contributing his company’s model to the project. With it, they provide services, such as credit counselling, to clients to ensure that after a period of renting one of these units, they get to “the point where they own the home themselves. It’s usually a three-year process.”

Having read about this model of owning a home years ago, it was something Pereira was interested in. He appreciates that it’s a system that allows “everyone (to work) together to get a positive outcome.”Laurie Dillion-Schaik, executive director of the Community Foundation of Kawartha Lakes, called the event a success and hopes that it gets more people intreated in what the housing innovation is trying to accomplish.

“We have everyone who’s interested in housing solutions together in the same room, from the entrepreneurs to the people that can reduce those barriers that they are faced with.”

“We’re building neighbourhoods, not just houses,” Dillon-Schaik said.

Now that is has been officially launched, Norman encourages anyone interested in getting involved to reach out to Launch to see how they can play a part in the project.