What is YCHA?
The York Community Housing Association (YCHA) is a student-led community outreach group dedicated to helping anyone living in and/or looking for a housing in York University Heights.
What YCHA Does?
YCHA serves residents managing housing issues/looking for a place on a case-by-case basis, while mobilizing residents and advocating for action on housing in the York Community.
YCHA's Vision
YCHA represent and advocates for tenants' and residents' rights, to achieve safer, cleaner, and more accessible living conditions, and more affordable and available housing in the York Community.
About YCHA
High student turnover means that a unit can see more than four (4) people a year = four (4) times the risk of pest migration and/or four (4) times the moving waste.
For rooming houses, the opportunity to make [more] money by subdividing and overcrowding a house create health and fire safety issues leading to fires in the Village @ York.
YCHA's advocacy works goes well beyond safer, clear, and more accessible housing — we work hand in hand with the Affordable Housing Committee at York University to fight for more affordable and available housing for students and young adults.
That's why YCHA aims to organize annual clean-ups and housing maintenance reporting measures — so that residents can live in visibly and tangibly cleaner and safer living and housing conditions.
More Inclusive and Accessible Housing
After speaking and meeting with students, residents, homeowners, and community members, we learned that housing issues affect different groups of residents... differently!
That's why YCHA works to foster the most inclusive and accessible housing community possible — we're here to help folks find resources to deal with housing accessibility and inclusivity issues (i.e. housing discrimination)
YCHA dedicates itself to ensuring that every York Community Resident is aware of their housing rights and responsibilities so that we can collectively eradicate precarious living conditions. We want to make sure people know how to safely navigate the rooming/housing market, and to find a place they can call home so that they can focus on what really matters - their future. Essentially, we are paving the pathway for residents have access to fair, equitable and accessible accommodations.
YCHA's Mission
Safer & Cleaner Living Conditions
More Affordable & Available
Housing
Housing
More Inclusive & Accessible
Residences
Residences
"It's more than a mission — it's our commitment to realizing better housing and living conditions for the York Community..."
- Co-Founder Nathi Zamisa
- Co-Founder Nathi Zamisa
YCHA the challenges that York Community residents face on a daily basis. Our goal is to provide personal and social supports or solutions for everything related to housing in the Village - from looking for a place, to community events and tenancy help; we've got your back!
Homeowners, Students, University and College Alumni, Residents, and Landlords are all impacted by the negative and positive housing experiences shared by the York Communtiy. We want to establish a platform for these individuals to help, support, educate, and inform their neighbours, College and University Administrations, City Staff and City Councillors, and the Mayor to fight for more accommodating, affordable and inclusive homes in the York Community.
YCHA wants to address ongoing issues with housing in the York Community by spreading/raising awareness around resident housing concerns and/or issues; to educate and empower students and residents; and to identify and hold accountable the actors/agents/processes accountable for the precarious living conditions residents face.
YCHA Operations
Community-Based, Led, & Operated
At YCHA, we practice what we preach — our membership is made-up of every kind of York Community members! Students help us connect to university residents; tenants help us connect to landlords and homeowners; and homeowners help us connect to families!
Together, we represent the interests of York Community members in public forum and housing policy and decision-making spaces. Whether that means helping individuals deal with landlord and tenant disputes on a case by case basis, or organizing residents' meeting to help identify and address salient issue sin the community — YCHA harness the collective voices of community members to realize social change.
As a community-based project, community members are in the driving seat, setting YCHA's priorities, and determining the kinds of community organizing that the York Community needs ot be a successful and vibrant space for everyone.
Community-Oriented, Solutions Focused
Our 'grounded' approach means that we work from the bottom-up — we put our community members first by asking them to decide on priorities, instead of the other way around. That means residents' issues are our main priority.
Whether that means addressing important issues around community waste management or pest control, or big policy issues like the City of Toronto's proposed City-Wide Framework for Multi-Tenant Housing, we act on issues that will have a tangible impact on York Community members lives either together as a community, or on a case-by-case basis.
YCHA was created by and for the York Community, and we intend to help the community realize its goals by taking the first steps towards eliminating the barriers and/or challenges residents face.
Community Growth & Co-operation
YCHA is more than listening to and solving problems — we're about growing and fostering community collaboration and co-operation.
That's why we organize community events like community clean-ups, free landlord and tenants right information BBQs, and the YCHA Community Athletes League — because we want to bring people together.
More than that, we're proud to say that through our work with the Affordable Housing Committee at York University, we launched the York Non-Profit Housing Society Co-operative (YNHSC) in 2021 to bring the benefits of co-operative housing and living to the York Community.
Founding Members
Founder
Andrew Van Norden
Student & Ex-Villager
B.E.S
York University
CONTACT
Co-Founder
Nathi Mbuso Zamisa
Student & Ex-Villager
B.A. | M.A
York University
CONTACT
Contact Us
Better yet, Join us on Social Media!
We love our speaking to/learning from villagers, tenants, residents, students, landlords, homeowners and any other members of the York community -- you're the reason that YCHA does what is does, and we want to be able to help and/or connect with you in anyway we can!
So why not make that connection on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram so that we can start a conversion about what matters to you.
Facebook: @HousingYork
Twitter: @HousingYork
Instagram: @HousingYork
Whether you want to share your living experience, are struggling with your landlord/tenant relations, or simple want to ask questions about housing in the York Community, feel free to drop us a line and our team will get back to you ASAP!
York Community Housing Association
4700 Keele Street (New Student Centre)
Toronto, ON
M3J 1P3, Canada
E: [email protected]
P: (905) 317-8548