Paste the following message into your email. Feel free to adapt it to make it more personalized, and be sure to add your name at the end of the email message. Dear Minister Smith:
I am concerned about the 400 plus households that are at risk of losing their housing due to the temporary pause in the CMHB program. Please act now to secure the funding needed to prevent these households from accumulating rent arrears that could result in eviction and homelessness.
In addition to this immediate concern, I am also concerned about the future of the CMHB program and the implications for all those who will need it going forward. Given the severe shortage of social housing in Manitoba, low-income households have no choice but to look for housing in the private market and the CMHB plays a critical role in allowing them to secure and maintain that housing.
Without ongoing access to the CMHB, housing precarity and the demand for emergency shelter services will increase, especially alongside the absence of adequate investments in expanding and protecting the supply of social housing. The situation is dire, as emergency shelters are already at capacity, above where they were last year this time, and we are heading towards colder weather.
I trust that you will work with your colleagues in government to secure the necessary funding to immediately resume the CMHB program and protect vulnerable low-income renters in Manitoba.