Volunteers are helping Ottawa Community Housing stay on top of a number of projects, that otherwise may fall to the wayside.
On Thursday, a team of volunteers gathered at 215 Wurtemburg to help give a tenant lounge a facelift - something that sounds like a small task, but ends up having a large impact on the community, according to OCH CEO Stephane Giguere.
"This is maybe one of the most impactful - the most visible impact that you can see and have on a tenant's life," said Gigere. "Why is that? Because capital projects are usually infrastructure work, you know? Things that we don't see: rooftops, changing the pipes, working on foundations. But when we talk about improving the conditions of life, doing beautification, or painting lobbies and hallways, this is where the tenants are coming back home and seeing and smiling about their place and seeing and enjoying that something has changed in their community and changed for the better."
Volunteers with Malenka Originals, a Hintonburg-based company repainted the tenant lounge with supplies provided by an international company, Annie Sloan.
"(I'm) happy," said Gerry Carriere. "The colour has been like this for a few years, so to add a change of colour to the room and to the kitchen area would be an additive to get people to think that 'hey, they're doing something nice here,' you know? That's what we want to get rid of, the negativity that people are having with Ottawa housing."
The city's largest landlord is spending $20-million on 220 renovation projects this year and with a deferred maintenance bill of some $140-million, Guiguere said they have to tend to priorities.
"Capital work that has to be done has to be delivered," said Giguere. "Obviously, the volunteer work that is happening is something that unfortunately would not make the list in terms of priorities. By doing this, it's helping out people in the community that are vulnerable and the help that the community is providing is changing their lives."
Giguere said over the past few years the number of volunteers helping with projects like this at OCH has doubled to 1,200.
The organization is also applying for grants and initiatives like Annie Sloan's 25 Project. The project at 215 Wurtemburg is the only Canadian location chosen as part of the 25 Project.