Deeply Affordable Housing Is Needed – Is A Donation The Best I Can Do?

This post starts with an story about Mères avec pouvoir, which supports single moms in Montréal, Québec. The wraparound services include help with child care, education and housing. The goal is to help single moms to get on their feet. People who have been part of Mères avec pouvoir can’t say enough good about it, but there is a long waiting list to get in. You can read more at CBC: This non-profit for single moms is a lifeline for many, but access to it can be a challenge

Now let’s suppose for a moment that Mères avec pouvoir looks like just the ticket to you. It would have helped your sister when she was on her own with a young child, having left an abusive relationship. To honour you sister, you’d like to contribute to Mères avec pouvoir. You’re retired and you have some savings. It’s clear from the article that one thing that would help Mères avec pouvoir is more housing so that single parents don’t have to wait so long to access the services.

To build more housing, Mères avec pouvoir will need money. You have savings. A donation is an option, but once you donate, the money is gone. If they ask, you’re going to have to say,”sorry.” Is there a way that you could invest your savings safely to help get the housing built?

The answer is starting to be “yes,” which brings us to the second article/report in this post. It is based on a survey of social finance intermediaries in Canada. These are organizations that help connect social agencies like Mères avec pouvoir with people who want to make investments in organizations and businesses that are dedicated to social and/or environmental goals¹.

The report is organized geographically and discusses the state of social finance intermediaries in Canada. They vary in the way that they operate, and in the kind of projects they support. There are a number that have helped organizations to raise funds for affordable housing.

If Mères avec pouvoir decided to add more housing, it would have an easier time connecting with a social finance intermediary and potential investors than in most other parts of the country. In Québec, there is a longer track record of investments for social impact, as well as a regulatory framework to support them.

Elsewhere in Canada, a single individual with savings to invest will encounter more road blocks. Generally speaking, investing in a social project, such as helping Mères avec pouvoir to build more housing would be very challenging, especially for people with small amounts to invest. But things are changing and quite quickly.

To learn more about the state of social impact investing in Canada, read more at the Table of Investment Practitioners: Impatient Readiness: The State of Social Finance in Canada 2021

The research methodology used to create the report was chosen deliberately to strengthen ties and collaboration among organizations, groups and individuals that are interested in impact investing. For this reason, it may be of interest to readers in other countries, where social and environmental impact investing has been going on for much longer.

1. The trio of social, environmental and financial objectives is also called a triple bottom line. Businesses and organizations with social and environmental objectives have encountered difficulties raising capital. Social finance intermediaries help these businesses and organizations to identify and connect with businesses and organizations, including banks, credit unions, foundations and equity funds, that will consider lending for a triple bottom line.