Whenever Kelly Lawless thinks about using drugs, she jingles her house keys.“Without a doubt, having my own home, my first home, was — and is — the strength in my recovery,” said Lawless, 48, a former “homeless and helpless crack addict.”After a 28-year addiction, Lawless is going into her fifth year without using drugs, she told more than 200 leaders from non-profit, labour and social justice groups who packed a recent provincial election gathering at Toronto’s Church of the Holy Trinity.“That’s what housing can do for a person like me,” she continued. “I needed a sense of community and belonging and I found it through decent, permanent and affordable housing.” As Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne, Green party Leader Mike Schreiner and representatives from the Progressive Conservatives and NDP watched from the front row, Lawless and other anti-poverty activists called on all parties to make Ontario a fair and equitable place where everyone belongs.Ontario for All, a coalition of more than 70 organizations, wants the leaders to commit to policies and programs that reduce gender, racial and income inequality, and create pathways to prosperity for almost two million Ontarians living in poverty.Read more: Ontario urged to make ending child poverty an election issueOpinion | Micallef: Upcoming election highlights the fractured nature of OntarioEditorial | Ontario should move quickly on welfare benefits: EditorialLawless credits affordable housing and the support of addiction counsellors and social assistance workers for helping her escape homelessness, enrol in university and become a powerful advocate for people living in poverty.“I truly hope that others are given housing,” she said, looking pointedly at the politicians. “Because housing transformed my life … I have dreams and I have goals and I am fulfilling them.”Anti-poverty activists have spent the past 15 years p ...
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