We believe everyone should feel safe in their home. 
Read our Strategic Plan for more details.

Mandate

To enable the residents of Rádeyı̨lı̨ Kǫ́ (Fort Good Hope) to maintain and live in safe, affordable homes by delivering programs to address housing issues holistically, and by facilitating individuals to secure homes  and to develop the skills, self-esteem and resilience needed to maintain their homes as nurturing environments for themselves and their families.  

Mission

The K’asho Got’ı̨nę Housing Society coordinates programs to help Rádeyı̨lı̨ Kǫ́ (Food Good Hope) residents to:

  • Access urgent shelter with integrated programming to support greater independence over time;
  • Repair and maintain existing homes;
  • Build or purchase new homes; and
  • Address underlying issues of homelessness.

The K’asho Got’ı̨nę Housing Society advocates for more effective government programs and funding models related to housing and homelessness.

The K’asho Got’ı̨nę Housing Society collaborates with other organizations to pursue creative and holistic housing solutions.

Vision

By 2025, with partners, K’ásho Got’ı̨nę Housing Society has addressed the most urgent housing needs in Rádeyı̨lı̨ Kǫ́ (Fort Good Hope), relieving immediate pressures in the community, inspiring hope and building momentum for change. A network of emergency shelter and transition homes provide immediate support for residents in crisis, with programming that facilitates them to attain greater independence over time. Community members can access low-interest loans and materials to repair and maintain homes. Eighteen new living spaces will be created, housing up to 36 individuals through a mix of group homes, and units for rental and ownership.

By 2040, all Rádeyı̨lı̨ Kǫ́ (Fort Good Hope) residents live in safe, nurturing homes. Community members support one another through strong community connections and programs. Community members can access affordable housing, maintain their homes and live independently when it is appropriate for them to do so. Housing programs in Rádeyı̨lı̨ Kǫ́ (Fort Good Hope) are administered by local leadership, according to negotiated systems of self-government.

Guiding Principles

Reconnect Our People

Homelessness and housing insecurity are about more than just physical buildings to live in. Indigenous Scholar Jesse Thistle has articulated twelve dimensions of Indigenous homelessness, recognizing the ties between homelessness and the erosion of language, culture and community connections. We need to understand our colonial history to understand our housing situation. Addressing housing will mean reconnecting our people, ensuring young people know and are strong in our traditional Dene way of life and ensuring that all of our community members feel confident and enabled to help one another.

One of Jesse Thistle’s definitions of Homelessness:

“Homelessness that totally dislocates or alienates Indigenous individuals and communities from their culture and from the relationship web of Indigenous society known as ‘All my Relations’.” – From Indigenous Definition of Homelessness in Canada, 2017, Toronto: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness Press

Communicate Transparently

We will share our policies, information and resource materials amongst community members and our partners, while ensuring that personal information is kept confidential. Our processes for decision-making will be transparent and we will strive to distribute resources equitably within the community.

Learn as We Go

We will be patient with ourselves, all community members and our partners, recognizing that we are trying to do something new and ambitious. We will reflect often upon our challenges and learnings, adjusting our course to ensure that we are learning from our experiences and creating programs that align with our principles and fulfill our identified objectives.

Support the Local Economy

We will address housing needs while considering the broader community context including the need for local employment and local training. We will seek to ensure that we fulfill our objectives while creating good jobs in the community and using locally manufactured materials where feasible.

Enable Responsibility

We are concerned about more than just affordable housing; we want to build responsible housing. K’asho Got’ı̨nę Housing Society programs will focus on building skills, knowledge and confidence that community members need to obtain and look after their homes. Programs will enable and reward active participation, commitment and community service.

“I believe in self-sufficiency; that is the way we were raised.” – Edwin Erutse, March 29th, 2019

Engage Community

K’asho Got’ı̨nę Housing Society will develop programs that enable community members to be actively engaged. KGHS will create opportunities and bridges for residents to share their strengths and knowledge, both through employment and volunteer opportunities.  We will build on our local and Dene strengths, while collaborating with partners to utilize the best of all of our collective knowledge.

Decolonize Housing

In Rádeyı̨lı̨ Kǫ́ (Fort Good Hope), we have seen housing and homelessness problems grow over time. Our Elders remember government policies that encouraged or coerced our people to settle in one permanent townsite instead of continuing to live on the land and move seasonally across a vast territory. The government promised them housing, among other things. Our Elders remember the first time they received a lease invoice from the government, a letter that they did not understand but that they would later learn was a bill asking them to pay a fee to live on the land of their ancestors. Since these times, our people have had to rely on government for housing. The K’ásho Got’ı̨nę Housing Society will create a model that can help form a basis for self-governance, through which we increasingly re-assert our nationhood and take control of housing funding, programs and policies.