CHC Established January 2007, Our First Year

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1 Fall/Winter 2007 Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation CHC Holiday Hours The CHC Main Office and all District Offices will be closed the following days Friday, Dec 7 /07 Closing at Noon Monday, Dec. 24/07 Closing at Noon Tuesday, Dec. 25/07 Closed Wednesday, Dec. 26/07 Closed Tuesday. Jan.1, 2008 Closed Inside this issue: Maintenance Reporting 2 CHC Established January 2007, Our First Year We are fast approaching the end of the first year as the new corporation, CHC. CHC was formed out of the amalgamation of three housing companies. It has been an exciting and, at times, challenging year as we strive to organize the new corporation in a manner that is responsive to our obligations as a landlord as well as addressing the needs of you, our residents. District Teams are assigned to specific areas and are your first point of contact. Newly appointed Board of Directors committed to our goals and vision. As well as maintaining the needs of our tenants Developed stronger community ties with partnerships to assist in the delivery of our services Numerous capital projects have been undertaken to continue to provide you with well-maintained, safe and affordable housing Our goal remains to continue to be part of the local communities and maintain our high level of customer service and focus our efforts toward you. Communication is the key. We will strive to keep you informed. Please review the information in this newsletter. We have highlighted some of the corporation changes and provided general information. On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of CHC, may you enjoy a safe and happy holiday season. New phone numbers Working Smoke Alarms 2 Seeking greater attention at the federal and provincial levels for social housing interests. Best wishes, Jim Steele CEO, CHC Tips for a Safe Holiday 2 IMPROVEMENTS TO BETTER SERVE YOU Pre Approved Payments 3 ID Theft Checklist 3 Tax Credit for Bus Pass 3 Bar Coding 4 NEW HOURS Beginning Monday, December 3, 2007 our main office will remain open between Noon and 1 PM. To provide more convenient service to you, our main office at 945 McDougall St will be open Monday to Friday 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM CUSTOMER SERVICE LINE The Windsor Essex CHC endeavours to maintain a high level of customer service and all tenant inquiries or concerns are appreciated. You can reach us directly through our customer service line at extension Again, as a reminder your District Office is your first point of contact.

2 Page 2 Who Should You Call? To report a general maintenance concern phone and press 1 for the maintenance reporting line. This will direct you to our automated voice mail system. Please follow the instructions and prompts provided. Also include your name, address, phone number, permission to enter if no one is home and a brief description of the problem. During regular office hours to report extreme property maintenance emergencies, you may press 0 and speak with someone. Our after hours Emergency Maintenance Line phone number is What is 911? 911 is an emergency telephone number. This will connect you directly to the police, ambulance or fire department. Working Smoke Alarms Think of smoke alarms as seatbelts for your home. Ontario Fire Marshall Bernard Moyle Even law abiding people are unknowingly breaking the law everyday. Not for robbery, or speeding or assault. But simply because they do not have working smoke alarms in their homes. CHC must ensure our properties comply with the law. Tenants are reminded once smoke alarms are installed, you cannot remove the batteries or tamper with the smoke alarm in any way. If you do so, you could receive a fine of $235. Practice Fire Prevention Use appropriate power bars to prevent overloading of electrical outlets. Don t use frayed extension cords or run them under rugs or carpeting. Using a space heater? - Place it well away from flammable materials. Candles exercise caution if you use them at all. Matches and lighters keep in a secure place, out of reach of children. *Source Windsor Fire & Rescue Services website. Tips for a Safe Holiday Season If you will be placing a Christmas Tree in your home, please follow all manufacturer s labels pertaining to the installation of the tree, and the decorating of the tree. If you are putting up a live tree remember to water it often. You will be responsible for the disposal of your live wreaths, plants and trees. SAFETY TIPS Don t set your tree up near heating vents. Don t leave presents in view in your car or your home. Do lock your doors. Don t drink and drive. Do not run extension cords from the inside of your unit to outside. If you are using outside lights you must have an outside plug. Any decorations placed on the balcony need to be securely tied to the inside of the railing.

3 Fall/Winter 2007 Page 3 Pre Approved Payments - Let us take care of that for you. SITE OFFICES: Pre-Approved Payments means that you provide us with a voided cheque and your rental payments are automatically deducted from your bank account. With PAP you no longer need to worry about submitting your rent on time to us we ll take care of that for you. This means no trips to the office or writing a years worth of post-dated cheques. This also alleviates the need to come to the main office or Essex Office to pay cash. How do you sign up? Fill out the application included in this newsletter to take advantage of this convenient and reliable rental payment method. Once completed you can drop it off to our main office at 945 McDougall or to your District Site Office. INCOME TAX RECEIPTS Should you need rental receipts for Income Tax purposes, we have included the request form in this newsletter for your convenience. District University Ave District Mill Street District Rivard District 4-15 C Talbot St.N Essex, On District Bridge District Niagara Identity Theft a Checklist Guard Your Personal Information Never give your personal information by phone, internet or mail unless you initiate the contact. Shield your PIN, and never lend cards. Report missing credit or debit cards. Carry only the ID you need. Put your other ID documents (SIN, Birth Certificate, Passport) in a safe place. Shred documents with personal information. Ask about security of your information at work, with businesses and charities. Guard your Computer and its Information Select a complex password of letters, numbers and symbols. Install firewall, anti-virus, anti-spy ware and security software-updates often. Don t try, don t buy and don t reply to spam or s asking for banking information. For online transactions look for a closed lock or an unbroken key icon. Identity theft: recognize it, report it, stop it. Source Fed-Pro Territorial Consumer Measures Committee Identity Theft is serious. It occurs when someone steals your personal information to commit a crime. Tax Credit for Bus Pass Purchases Anyone purchasing a bus pass (monthly or multimonth) may use the amount paid for the pass towards a tax credit. The credit is non-refundable and does not provide a refund. It only brings the tax payable to zero. The tax credit is available to individuals, a spouse, a common-law spouse or a dependant child under the age of 19 years. Students over 19 who do not have a taxable income cannot transfer the credit to a parent. It is your responsibility to provide the appropriate documentation to claim the bus pass expense. Persons should retain their bus pass for this purpose. The price of the pass is clearly printed on the front left side just above the magnetic strip. To date, Canada Revenue Agency advises that persons must provide the following documentation:transit providers name, Amount paid, Date. Want to find out more? Visit

4 CHC Mission Statement 945 McDougall Avenue Windsor, Ontario N9A 1L9 Tel: Phone: Do you have a story idea or information you think would be useful to other tenants? Please send your suggestions to the above address or by info@wechc.com Windsor Essex CHC provides well-maintained, safe and affordable community housing in a respectful and fair manner. We are leaders in the housing sector and contribute to the development and support of strong communities in the City of Windsor and County of Essex. CHC is the largest social housing provider in Windsor and Essex County, and the fourth largest in Ontario. CHC provides 4,708 homes to about 12,000 seniors, parents, children, singles and persons with special needs. ASSET MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT Questions on Bar Coding What is this new department you have been hearing about at CHC? It is not a new department, it has been renamed. The Asset Management Department is responsible for capital and preventative maintenance for CHC s properties. We have received a number of calls concerning the Bar Coding taking place across all of our properties; this includes, all apartments and houses. Here are the answers to some of the questions we received. We are doing the bar coding for a few reasons. We need to identify all of our assets, this includes fridges, stoves, appliances and smoke detectors. The Bar Code system works this way, on the inside jam of your front door we place a unique bar code number which identifies the unit. We then place an individual bar code on all of the appliances in the unit. These appliances are now part of the inventory of the unit, and also our capital asset inventory. We are not tracking you, as a tenant. The bar code tracks to the address only, not the tenant, or your tenant account number. The bar code system will also provide us needed information like verifying when work is started and completed as directed, as well as allowing us to develop an electronic work order system. Most important for you to know, the bar code system allows us to maintain our high level of safety standards. We will now be able to record electronically the history and maintenance records of the smoke detectors in your unit.

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