To: Dream Unlimited
CC: Michael Cooper, CEO of Dream Unlimited
Krystal Koo, Chair Dream Community Foundation
We, the undersigned community organizations, stand with our neighbours in 33 King St and 22 John St as they seek fair rent increases of no more than the provincial guideline.
Despite being a rent controlled building, rent at 33 King has increased 3 times higher than rent control and 3 times higher than wages have increased in the last 5 years. Even in 2021, Dream Unlimited ignored the pandemic rent freeze and increased rents by 3 percent.
At 22 John, on average Dream Unlimited is increasing monthly rents $100-$300 every year just because they can. This building is not protected by rent control, despite being built on public land with millions of dollars of public funding.
Stable housing is a key component of a healthy community. Our whole community suffers when our neighbours – who support our local economy, who are members of our churches, mosques and other places of worship, who contribute to the social fabric of our community and whose children go to school with our children – are under constant threat of losing their homes because of excessive rent increases.
There is no amount of charitable programming that can address this affordable housing crisis, but you can make rent fair at 33 King and 22 John. With more than 50 percent of the rent Dream Unlimited collects as profit, we are looking to Dream Unlimited to show leadership by following rent control.
The rent strikes at 33 King and 22 John have our full support, and we urge you to come to a fair agreement with their tenant union, the York South Weston Tenant Union, as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
1. Weston King Neighbourhood Centre
2. Mount Dennis Neighbourhood Centre
3. Weston ACORN Chapter
4. Weston Area Emergency Support (WAES) Foodbank
5. North York Women's Centre
6. Syme Woolner Neighbourhood & Family Centre
7. Toronto Drop-in Network
8. Black Urbanism TO
9. Jessica Bell, Member of Provincial Parliament and Housing Critic, New Democratic Party
10. ODSP Action Coalition
11. The Neighbourhood Group Community Services
12. Social Planning Toronto
13. Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations
14. Mount Dennis Community Association
15. Toronto Youth Cabinet
16. Ethno Racial Disability Coalition ON (ERDCO)
17. Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services
18. Thistletown Food Bank
19. Society For the Living Food Bank
20. North York Community House
21. Falstaff Foodbank Food For You
22. Oakwood Vaughan Community Organization
23. FoodShare Toronto
24. York Hispanic Centre
25. Toronto Neighbourhood Centres
26. Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre (PARC)
27. Ralph Thornton Community Centre
28. Hadi Islamic Association
29. For Youth Initiative
30. Latin American Cultural Centre
31. Unison Health and Community Services
32. Jane Finch Action Against Poverty (JFAAP)
33. YWCA Toronto
34. Right to Housing Toronto
35. Working Women Community Centre
36. Oakwood Vaughan Tenant Union
37. Youth Without Shelter
38. Davenport Perth Neighbourhood & Community Health Centre
39. Community Share Food Bank
40. Jane Finch Housing Coalition
41. Jane and Alliance Neighbourhood Services
42. St. Philip's Anglican Church - Etobicoke
43. North York Harvest Food Bank
44. St. Bernard de Clairvaux Parish
45. SURJ Toronto
46. Weston Presbyterian Church
47. Learning Enrichment Foundation
48. South Asian Women's Centre
49. Unified We Grow
50. Working Skills Centre
51. Bangladeshi-Canadian Community Services (BCS)
52. Keele and Eglinton Residents Group
53. Livmore High Park Tenants' Association
54. St. Mary & St. Martha Anglican Church
55. Progress Toronto
56. First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto