Brantford Native Housing creates opportunities for the urban Indigenous community

Brantford Native Housing (BNH) is a non-profit charitable corporation with the main objective to provide safe, secure and affordable rental homes for the urban Indigenous community in the city of Brantford.

The agency was first incorporated in Brantford in 1986 under the name Hotinohsioni Inc.

“Way back, it was started as Hotinohsioni, which means ‘keepers of the Longhouse.’ The gentleman who created it was actually not Indigenous, but he believed that ‘God does not make more land, so buy it all up’ and so he started buying properties around the city,” said Danielle Russell, Director of Capital Development and Innovation at BNH.

“He started the agency because he believed that we needed to support Indigenous people and then at the same time, he created a charitable organization, which was BNH, and that came a couple of years later before the two were merged into one.”

Russell said that while the agency’s mandate is to provide safe, dignified and equitable housing, she notes that there is a strong focus on inclusivity as well.

“When we talk about inclusivity, we’re talking about all the demographics of Indigenous people and that includes those experiencing homelessness, the youth, the young adults, older adults as well as Elders,” she said.

“We keep those services inclusive because we cater to all age demographics of the Indigenous population.”

The organization now operates over 180 units (spread across 120 properties) of transitional, affordable and market level units for Indigenous households including Status, non-Status, Metis and Inuit families who are of low-income.

The full story can be found on our content partner, The Brant Beacon.