Helping break the cycle of long term poverty through housing
One of the biggest barriers to forward progress in the life of a struggling neighbour is the soaring cost of housing in Toronto. While government housing offers an affordable solution, waiting lists are at an all time high, and the system designed to help people is in fact a trap that makes it impossible to move forward. But that’s just part of the story. For many of the men and women YSM serves, their income is too high for social housing, but not enough for the Toronto rental market, keeping them trapped in a poverty cycle that is impossible to break.
What we’re building
- 228 rental units: rent-geared to income, affordable and workforce housing all under one roof
- Intgrated supports: YSM support services co-located to support life skills and help move people out of poverty
- A housing model we call Progress in Place: Where hard work pays off and upward economic mobility becomes possible.
The Housing Problem
Our housing system places a ceiling on upward economic mobility
- Government Housing (rent-geared-to-income): an 11 year wait list
- Affordable rental: Zero vacancy
- Income caps: If your income rises, you are forced to move
- There is nowhere to go: The leap from rent-geared-to-income to market rental is a steep cliff.
- Vulnerable neighbours; trapped without a pathway out of poverty
The ELEV8 Solution:
Housing that moves with you
ELEV8 by YSM is a mixed-income housing development that replaces this ceiling with a ladder. It introduces a housing model we call Progress in Place, a building with three housing tiers: rent-geared-to-income (RGI), affordable and workforce housing (better–than-market) rental categories. Each of these tiers is housed in a single building, allowing residents to transition between tiers as their income grows. No displacement. No steep cliff. AND, this housing sits atop a podium of YSM services designed to support upward economic mobility, making ELEV8 by YSM a place where residents are not just housed. They are set up to succeed.
If we desire a city that
values upward
economic mobility, we
need a housing solution
that replaces this
ceiling with a ladder.
ELEV8 by YSM is part of YSM’s bold vision to end long-term poverty in Toronto in one generation. It combines essential support services with a housing solution that rewards hard work with upward economic mobility without penalties, traps or steep cliffs.
Our Partners
Alongside YSM’s over 130 years of experience in wraparound support to Toronto’s most vulnerable residents, ELEV8 by YSM is being built with trusted partners.
Help us build it
Available government grants and financing have been identified. Philanthropic capital is the final piece – and the most powerful one. Every dollar contributed unlocks $6.70 in government investment that cannot flow without it.
Contact:
Angela Solomos
asolomos@ysm.ca
Project cost: $134.4M*
Philanthropic capital campaign goal: $20M
- 11 Stories of rental housing
- 228 Units – three rental tiers
- 772 Lives – men, women and children set up to succeed
- Integrated wraparound support making progress possible