Housing Support

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The Housing Support Program provides support to families living in Canada who have a child in active cancer treatment and are struggling financially.  The program aims to understand the financial challenges faced by the family, develop a personalized budgeting and debt management solution, and when appropriate provide mortgage or rental financial support.  Overall, the program is built to address financial challenges and keep families living in Canada in their homes when they have a child in active cancer treatment.  

This program is designed and run by Kindred Foundation, in partnerships with the nesto group (nesto, CMLS, and Intellifi), Hoyes, Michalos, & Associates, Childhood Cancer Canada Foundation, and Forvis Mazars.

There are three main components to the Housing Support Program: Debt Relief Counselling, Mortgage Counselling (if applicable), and Mortgage or Rental Financial Support.

As a first step, families will receive individualized help from a Licensed Insolvency Trustee (LIT.)  LITs provide financial counselling and guidance on debt relief at no charge.  They consult on debt consolidation, credit counselling, debt settlement, consumer proposals, and bankruptcy – with bankruptcy being the very last and least frequent course of action.  LITs are regulated by the government and require a provincial license to operate.  LITs will provide the initial consultation at no cost.  

If the family has a mortgage, families will receive one-on-one mortgage counselling with a licensed residential mortgage specialist from the nesto group.  The mortgage counselling will support the family to determine if there are beneficial ways to change their mortgage based on their current arrangements.

A Housing Support Committee will collectively review all of the applications to the Housing Support Fund on a monthly basis.  Each approved application will receive mortgage or rental payment assistance grants of $5,000 to families living in Canada who have a child in active cancer treatment and are financially challenged.  These grants provide support to help families at a time when they shouldn’t be worrying about how to make a mortgage or rental payment in Canada.

The program is currently available at:

1. The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto

2. The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa

Social Workers and Pediatric Oncology Resource Navigators submit the applications to the program with the families.  Applications are only accepted from Social Workers and Navigators at the hospitals listed above.

Kindred Foundation is working to expand this program to other hospitals and provinces.