{"id":491983,"date":"2026-02-22T12:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T12:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/491983\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T12:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T12:08:14","slug":"tenant-says-salvation-army-durham-region-left-him-scrambling-for-affordable-housing-after-program-ended-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/491983\/","title":{"rendered":"Tenant says Salvation Army, Durham Region left him scrambling for affordable housing after program ended"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A former tenant of The Salvation Army\u2019s rental housing program in Durham Region says he\u2019s looking for accountability after the program ended last year, leaving him scrambling to avoid living on the streets.<\/p>\n

Jamie Middleton said he has received no meaningful support from The Salvation Army or Durham Region \u2014 which funded the program \u2014 since it ended in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody\u2019s taking any accountability for anything, and I find that disgusting and distasteful,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The program began in partnership with the region in 2017. The Salvation Army signed time-limited guarantee agreements with landlords for rent payments on behalf of the tenants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Middleton said he joined the program in March 2023 and signed a four-year contract, living with roommates in a Pickering house.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Salvation Army has said Durham Region withdrew funding for the program in May. When the program ended in November, it had been supporting 88 adults and 114 children.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Middleton said tenants should have been told in May the program was ending. Instead, he said the charity told him in September.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat gave us no time to figure things out, save money,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Salvation Army says it tried to save program<\/p>\n

The Salvation Army declined to be interviewed for this story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement, spokesperson Gina Haggett said the charity \u201cmade significant efforts\u201d to advocate for their clients and persuade the region to reverse its decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AA Salvation Army location in downtown Oshawa. A spokesperson for the charity said it ‘made significant efforts’ to persuade Durham Region to reverse its funding cut for the housing program. (Rochelle Raveendran\/CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce it was apparent the program could not be saved, all clients were provided with notice in accordance with our program agreement of not less than 60 days,\u201d the email read.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Middleton said that notice wasn\u2019t enough. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did you withhold information from your clients \u2026\u00a0 and put them in a situation where they could be homeless?\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No follow-up from regional partner, former tenant says<\/p>\n

Since the program ended, Durham Region has partnered with nonprofit agency Dedicated Advocacy Resource Support (DARS) to help affected tenants, said Sahar Foroutani, the region\u2019s manager of income, employment and homelessness support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Middleton said DARS didn\u2019t follow up after he asked for help.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Initially, Middleton\u2019s landlord allowed him to stay after the program ended and pay rent directly. But a week before Christmas, he was told he had to move within a month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | Salvation Army says Durham Region withdrew funding for housing program in May:\"\"<\/p>\n

Salvation Army ends housing program in Durham Region amid funding cuts<\/p>\n

The Salvation Army is ending a rental housing program that supported hundreds of people in the Durham Region, after funding was cut earlier this year. As CBC’s Christian D\u2019Avino explains, two landlords say the charity still owes them tens of thousands of dollars. <\/p>\n

Middleton said he immediately reached out to a DARS worker, who advised him not to move and promised help \u2014 but he said he never heard back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe effort is lacking, the communication is lacking,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Foroutani said all impacted tenants have been contacted and followed-up with. She said the region is working closely with DARS to oversee cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cResources have been provided, support has been implemented [and] referrals have been made to ensure those individuals have all the right tools needed \u2026 to secure themselves in a space that’s safe and sustainable,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

32 of 71 affected households have been housed: region<\/p>\n

In total, 71 households were impacted when the housing program ended, Foroutani said. There have been no evictions to date, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Foroutani said 32 households have been successfully housed in a \u201cpermanent residency,\u201d either staying in their units or relocating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The remaining 39 households are still living in the same accommodations, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CBC News asked Foroutani how long these tenants will be able to stay in these units, since the program ended three months ago. In response, Foroutani said the region and DARS are working together to help these tenants maintain stable housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Depending on each tenant\u2019s needs, that may include doing advocacy work between the landlord and the tenant, or educating the tenants about what benefits they are eligible for, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the region says no one has been evicted, Middleton \u2014 who has been homeless before\u2014 said he is worried about other former tenants facing uncertainty.<\/p>\n

He ultimately moved to a basement apartment in Alliston, Ont., where he is from, that he shares with his girlfriend. Before that, Middleton said he feared ending up on the streets again as he struggled to find housing within his budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI really do hope if anybody has been exited out of these houses \u2026 that Durham Region does what they said they\u2019re going to do and help these people,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-491983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}