While things have been a little quieter on the real estate front, we’ve been using our realtor powers for good and working on a passion project. Health Worker Housing is a volunteer initiative which aims to help frontline healthcare workers who need to distance from their families find low cost, short-term housing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Toronto initiative started when Sohail took to his personal Facebook page to offer his basement unit to any healthcare worker who needed to find alternate accommodations. From there, a friend told him about a similar initiative in BC, and Health Worker Housing was born! Withina matter of weeks the Health Worker Housing team has volunteers throughout North America, has been featured in multiple news outlets, and is helping healthcare workers find housing in nine Canadian cities and six American cities.
The initial catalyst was a social media plea from a nurse at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria who was looking for a low cost suite to be made available for herself and a colleague. People who work in hospitals and other healthcare facilities across Canada have been put in an impossible position. While they continue to work, caring for our friends and loved ones, coming home at the end of their shift puts their own families at risk of infection. These workers deserve to be able to keep their families safe while they continue to do their job, but often cannot afford market rates on a second suite or house on top of their existing mortgage and rent.
With so many news stories about healthcare workers trying to keep their loved ones safe, or even being evicted from their homes, we know the need for Health Worker Housing is there, but we need your help. With more and more requests for housing coming in every day, our supply of low cost units isn’t keeping up with the demand. If you have a furnished suite available and you’re looking for a way to do some good please reach out, or visit healthworkerhousing.ca
