Discussing Poverty: Housing Solutions For Those In Poverty Need to Be Individualized

Discussing Poverty

Tell us your story about poverty. We are looking for “survival” stories, humourous anecdotes, ideas and solutions, and any productive, impactful concepts. As we grow our community focused on this worldwide problem, we will be developing a fully interactive website that allows each of us to contribute.
We start off this blog with a few premises: 1) that poverty is not a universal, boilerplate issue and that poverty and its impacts vary from country to country, town to town and even person to person, 2) that economic poverty is just one form of poverty, along with emotional, cultural, intellectual, psychological, experiential and so on, 3) that solutions to poverty in one realm, in one area or with one group of people or individuals may not be applicable to others, 4) that poverty experienced by one impacts on many others (including the wealthy), 5) that each of us – governments, corporations, private & public organizations and individuals – has a role to play in solving the issues of poverty.
Crowdfunding has proven hugely successful for business and the arts. Why should not “crowdthinking” be equally as viable? Spread the word. Get people involved in exchanging thoughts, whether through this vehicle or any other. Bring us all together to solve a problem. This tiny blog may not solve a huge number of issues. However, it may solve a few, and that is a few more than were solved before we began the initiative.
Of greatest value here are ideas – your ideas, comments – your comments (positive or negative), contacts and communication. As much as possible, we will attempt to refrain from editing or censoring any ideas. Even so, from time to time we may need to do so, when those inputs are merely malevolent. Join us. Challenge us. Help us grow.

Monday, January 4, 2016

Housing Solutions For Those In Poverty Need to Be Individualized

One of the common elements in the efforts to resolve various aspects of poverty is the concern over appropriate housing. While there are myriad types of poverty, diverse impacts on those types and a truly inaccurate assumption that poverty reduction strategies can be applied universally in any country, there is a thread that binds those people who have been labelled as “poor:” the need for proper accommodation.

Some people, particularly those living voluntarily in financial deprivation, have found that communal living is the answer. In Canada, the Hutterites, a religious sect, individually do not own homes or property, yet their strong community bonds mean that they each devote maximum effort to providing for each other. Others, choosing voluntary simplicity, opt for basic housing.

Across the world, inadequate housing, though, often is the hallmark of economic poverty, regardless of the demographic into which each individual fits. There are many examples, however, of initiatives that have successfully addressed the housing shortfall.

In Saskatchewan, Canada, a long-running project provides housing for First Nations people who otherwise would not qualify for home ownership. The Quint Project, a joint undertaking involving financial institutions, government, private individuals and so on, has been operating successfully for two decades. See http://www.quintsaskatoon.ca/. It has some elements in common with Jimmy Carter’s Habitat project.

In Finland, a co-housing undertaking (See http://experimentcity.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cohousing-the-Making.pdf) has proven hugely successful both economically and socially. It has been adopted and revised to suit United Kingdom needs. Visit the Guardian’s website at

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/feb/24/co-housing-lifestyle-community to learn more.

These are only a few of the innovative housing solutions being developed and/or operating around the world. Their successes come from a recognition that not all poverty is the same, not all housing needs are the same and therefore, not all solutions should be the same.

To illustrate how others’ ideas can be adapted effectively, the following project links reveal two spinoffs of the Quint project, one for affordable housing and the other for vacation property ownership, can evolve. www.robertflee.com/Texas_on_the_Rio_Grande.ppt and www.robertflee.com/coophousing.ppt.

We encourage you to submit your ideas and let others know about initiatives that you have observed.

Discussing Poverty