Media advisory - 2012 ONPHA conference & trade show

TORONTO, Nov. 9, 2012 /CNW/ -

What:			2012 ONPHA Conference and Tradeshow
			November 16-18, 2012
			This three-day conference brings together more than 1100 delegates from the affordable housing sector to discuss critical housing and community development issues. This year's theme, Housing is the home of all issues, explores the important role that affordable housing plays in Ontario communities.
When:			Opening Plenary
			Friday, November 16, 2012
			10-11:30 a.m.
Where:			Toronto Sheraton Centre
			Grand Ballroom, Lower Concourse
			123 Queen Street West Toronto, ON M5H 2M9

Media are invited to attend.  Photography and audio-visual equipment are permitted.

Public awareness campaign
At the Opening Plenary, ONPHA is launching a public relations campaign to increase awareness of the importance of affordable housing in healthy communities. Manifest Communications will lead a discussion of the campaign, and let non-profit housing providers and sector partners know how they can participate in their communities.

Keynote speaker
Tonya Surman, Executive Director of the Centre for Social Innovation, will address delegates at the Opening Plenary. Tonya has been founding and managing social enterprises for more than 10 years. She has built her body of knowledge around multi-sectoral collaboration and entrepreneurship for social change. By lending her insight to the challenges we face, we will come away with new ideas to move us forward.

2012 ONPHA Awards
Winners of the 2012 ONPHA Awards will be announced throughout the course of the conference. At the Opening Plenary, the Award of Excellence winners will be announced. This award recognizes innovative non-profit housing corporations that responds to tenant or community needs with imagination and insight.

Kathleen Blinkhorn Aboriginal Student Scholarship

Recipients of ONPHA's 2012 Kathleen Blinkhorn Aboriginal Student Scholarship will also be announced at the Opening Plenary. The scholarship commemorates Kathleen's work developing Aboriginal housing programs and working with Aboriginal communities, and is awarded to Aboriginal post-secondary students who live in non-profit housing in Ontario.

---

About ONPHA

For more than 20 years, the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) has been the voice of non-profit housing in Ontario.  Our 770 member organizations operate more than 163,000 non‐profit housing units in over 220 communities in Ontario. They provide affordable homes to a diverse range of tenants, including: seniors; low‐income families with children; Aboriginal people; the working poor; victims of violence and abuse; people living with developmental disabilities, mental illness, addictions and HIV/AIDS; and the formerly homeless/hard‐to‐house.

About the conference

Since 1988, ONPHA has been hosting Canada's largest social housing conference. Affordable housing sector representatives from across Ontario gather together for this three-day event to get the latest in policy updates, practical how-to's, inspiring case studies and basic housing management. For more information visit www.onpha.on.ca/conference.

SOURCE: Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA)

Media contact:

Shard Kerur
Executive Director, ONPHA
416-723-2835
[email protected] 

Find ONPHA online:
www.onpha.on.ca
www.facebook.com/ONPHA
www.twitter.com/ONPHA