Oct 20th, 2026
Volunteers Assemble 600 Hygiene Kits for Ottawa Community Housing Residents
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Volunteers assemble hygiene kits and refresh shared spaces, highlighting the connection between housing, health and community well-being.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OTTAWA, ON – October 20, 2026 – Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) volunteers from across the country joined Ottawa Community Housing and the Ottawa Community Housing Foundation at MacLaren Towers to assemble 600 hygiene kits for OCH residents and refresh shared spaces in the building. This event marks CREA’s 2026 REALTORS Care® Day and their fourth volunteer initiative with OCH.
Made possible by a donation from CREA to the OCH Foundation’s Tomorrow Ready Program, the kits will support residents at 415 MacLaren Street and 395 Somerset. Other volunteers painted hallways on floors one through five of MacLaren Towers.
The Foundation’s Tomorrow Ready Program, delivered in partnership with Khalsa Aid Ottawa, provides essential food and hygiene products to OCH residents based on needs identified by tenant groups.
QUOTES
“Partnerships make communities stronger. CREA’s outstanding support helps us provide essential items and improve shared spaces, contributing to communities where hundreds of residents can feel supported and connected.””
Stéphane Giguère, Chief Executive Officer, Ottawa Community Housing
“Through the Tomorrow Ready Program, we help connect residents with essential hygiene products that support their everyday well-being. CREA’s contribution will help us provide 600 kits to residents, and we’re grateful for the partners and volunteers who make this work possible.”
Traci Spour-Lafrance, Executive Director, Ottawa Community Housing Foundation
“We’re grateful for the opportunity to work with OCH to help create a home where residents can feel stable and secure. As REALTORS® we know the feeling of finding the right place for clients to call home and the joy and comfort that brings—thank you to the OCH team for bringing that same feeling to their residents.”
Darin Germyn, Chair-Elect, Canadian Real Estate Association
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About Ottawa Community Housing
Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) offers approximately 15,500 homes to about 33,000 tenants, including seniors, families, individuals, and people with disabilities. These homes are located in over 160 communities throughout Ottawa and house a diverse population with different languages, cultures, and ethnicities. OCH is Ottawa’s primary community housing provider, managing two-thirds of the city’s housing portfolio and ranking as the second largest in Ontario. In 2026, OCH earned recognition for the ninth consecutive year as one of the National Capital Region’s Top Employers.
www.och-lco.ca | X | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky
Ottawa Community Housing also operates the ARRIV Properties banner.
About Ottawa Community Housing Foundation
Founded in 2012, the OCH Foundation exclusively serves people living in Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) communities. OCH is Ottawa’s largest social housing provider and is home to about 33,000 residents across over 160 vibrant communities throughout the city. The Foundation connects people living in Ottawa Community Housing with programs and services that foster education, employment, community engagement and overall well-being.
About the Canadian Real Estate Association
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada’s largest single-industry associations. CREA works on behalf of more than 155,000 REALTORS® who contribute to the economic and social well-being of communities across Canada. Together they advocate for property owners, buyers, and sellers.
Media Contact
For media inquiries or further information, please contact:
Michaela Ianni
Media Relations Specialist
Ottawa Community Housing
media@och.ca | 343-961-4035
QUICK FACTS
- This is CREA’s fourth volunteer initiative with OCH.
- Tomorrow Ready is delivered in partnership with Khalsa Aid Ottawa, with tenant groups identifying supplies based on their community’s needs.
- In 2025, Tomorrow Ready completed 18 aid drop initiatives reaching more than 1,000 OCH tenants.
- In 2025, 900 external volunteers contributed close to 6,000 hours of support through OCH’s Volunteer Engagement Program, with 64 OCH communities benefiting from volunteer initiatives.