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640 News: August 26, 2024
“We have to think out of the box... we’ve got a crisis on our hands and [this model] seems like a sound idea... we just have to have the political will to get us there”
BlogTO: August 24, 2024
“When led by a city that understands and with operators who care, [cabin communities] can be so much more than that. They become the first real safety net that someone has experienced in years: a safe way to have heat, a locking door, a place to heal that doesn’t strip you of community. They provide the physiological solutions of shelter, the safety security needs of affordable housing, and the love and belonging found in encampments. They help people move on to permanent housing, and set them up to be able to stay in permanent housing.”
Toronto Outdoor Picture Show: July 21, 2024
’Someone Lives Here screening’ introduction by Two Steps Home
“Local filmmaker and 2024 TOPS Spotlight Filmmaker Zack Russell’s feature documentary début Someone Lives Here (winner of the Hot Docs 2023 Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary) follows Seivwright as he goes about his work engineering, building, installing, and repairing over a hundred tiny shelters that offer a warm, private, secure living space for Toronto’s unhoused citizens facing harsh winter conditions.”
Economic & Community Development: May 29, 2024
10 deputations in favour of cabin communities (beginning at 1:08:58)
“Two Steps Home is recommending a pilot project to be implemented by the end of 2024 as a new service model through Toronto’s shelter system. The time to act is now, to maximize use of land, to get people into shelter faster, and to provide dignity so that they never have to be homeless again.”
Doors Open: May 25, 2024
Two Steps Home and SvN Architects debuted our prototype cabin design for Toronto’s Doors Open 2024 at 110 Adelaide St E. The cabin is built on a trailer as a showpiece, to be shown around the city.
Canadian Architect, April 2024
“The cabin communities would be located on development sites that are in limbo, near to future affordable housing. As that affordable housing was completed, residents would move from the cabins into permanent housing, and the cabins could be moved wholesale to another site—ready to house new residents taking their own first steps towards housing security.”
CBC News: January 19, 2024
“As we go inside, you can see the warmth of the wood, it’s really quite a nice space. Really giving people a dignity about having a home here.”
“The idea of these cabin communities has been successful across the country”
CBC News: October 31, 2023
“We’ve got housing that can happen quickly and housing that can happen safely, housing that is dignified. And it allows people to move from the encampments toward permanent housing. I think it’s a brilliant model.”
“Our units are all really well built. They meet the green standards of the city. They’re well insulated. You get natural ventilation, heating and air conditioning, electricity, lighting, a nice porch, and you can lock it on the inside.”
Toronto Star: October 28, 2023
“Very different circumstances can lead to being unhoused and it’s very complicated. It can result from losing a job, being priced out of an apartment, a family breakdown or fires. Two Steps Home will provide stability for people who have become unhoused and allow them to build the skills they need to remain in housing.”
“We’re now at a point where it’s very clear that such life-saving measures are needed. These plans must be done with the goal of moving people on to other housing, and part of the problem is that there isn’t much to move on to. Toronto isn’t building new single-room shelters or modernizing the existing stock they have. But 2SH is certainly worth trying.””
CBC Radio: October 26, 2023
“Given the success of similar cabin communities in Waterloo and Kingston, Seivwright’s team believes they are on the right track”
CBC Radio: October 25, 2023
Architectural Review: September 12, 2023
“To support unhoused people, cities must use underutilised land to fund and build intentional communities where residents receive services, share community responsibilities and regain agency to govern space and their lives.”
Globe & Mail: November 5, 2015
“Architect and planner John van Nostrand, whose versatile Pro-Home prototype was a “tiny house” before radical downsizing and the term itself became trendy among the urbane and hip.”