About Us
Rent Assist Allies is a new community-driven initiative that addresses the urgent and complex challenge of family homelessness in Ottawa. Guided by a community-based Advisory Committee, Rent Assist Allies is designed to compliment existing services and fill gaps in homelessness prevention resources available to families.
Rent Assist Allies is working in collaboration with OMRA and local partners to prevent family homelessness by offering rent subsidies to maintain stable housing paired with community-driven relational supports that enable pathways to self-sufficiency. Operating under the OMRA Shelter Corporation and building on their successful model of providing subsidies to resettled refugees facing housing precarity, Rent Assist Allies will help families at risk of homelessness maintain stable housing by providing rent subsidies paired with social and practical supports provided through Action Logement, that foster recovery and self-sufficiency.
Theory of Change
Rent Assist Allies addresses critical gaps in Ottawa’s housing support landscape by providing rent subsidies and community-driven social and practical supports. We create a bridge to stability for at-risk families—ensuring safe housing, preventing instability outcomes, and enabling pathways to recovery and self-sufficiency.
Our approach reduces reliance on shelters and temporary housing, alleviating systemic pressure and fostering a more effective and equitable community.
Core Pillars
A Bridge to Stability
Rent Assist Allies offers families at risk of homelessness a bridge to stability by combining rent subsidies with comprehensive social and practical supports.
Compassionate Prevention
Rent Assist Allies prioritizes compassionate prevention over crisis, offering early interventions that keep families housed.
Alleviating Systemic Pressure and complementing Existing Supports
Rent Assist Allies fills a systemic gap in Ottawa’s housing support landscape, complementing existing programs and reducing the burden on overwhelmed emergency shelters and social services.
Community-Driven, Collaborative Partnerships
Rent Assist Allies leverages partnerships with local organizations, volunteers, and community networks to provide holistic, community-driven solutions.
Social and Practical Support as a Difference-Maker
Rent Assist Allies pairs rent subsidies with social and practical supports related to health, education and employment to create a holistic system of care, fostering resilience and breaking cycles of instability.
Our Services
RAA supports families with rent subsidies and supports for up to 5 years.
RAA operates through referrals only. Families at risk of homelessness must be referred to RAA from one of our partner agencies.
Families must:
- include a minimum of one adult and one child
- must be housed or have found a place to live and be in immediate need of financial assistance to secure or maintain their housing.
- be willing to work toward self-reliance
Advisory Committee Members
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Community Support for RAA
Shea Kiely
RAA not only reduces the financial strain on emergency shelter systems, but also promotes long-term stability and self-reliance for families, aligning with a more cost-effective and humane approach to ending homelessness.
Nathalie Maione
By offering a rent subsidy paired with practical supports, RAA, Rent Assist Allies service, allows low-income families to secure decent housing and stabilize their daily lives. Through essential collaborations, this financial aid becomes part of a holistic approach that strengthens the safety and resilience of the entire community.
Jayne Stoyles
Canadians are highly aware of the depth of the housing crisis in this country. As the organization managing a centralized waiting list for social housing in Ottawa, with over 14,000 applicants waiting many years for an offer, The Registry is highly supportive of the Rent Assist Allies (RAA) initiative. We believe in its vision to be part of the solution with a person-centred approach that aims to help prevent homelessness and break the cycle of poverty. It is only with a constellation of such solutions, integrating with each other as RAA is doing, that the crisis of homelessness and housing precariousness will be eased. Equally important is the project's potential to be both replicated and scaled across the country and internationally.