Business owner and housing advocate volunteering time to lead $5M Home for Good campaign
Guelph | February 21, 2023 | For Immediate Release – The Home for Good Campaign is excited and honoured to announce that R. Jason Ashdown, Co-founder and Chief Sustainability Officer at Skyline Group of Companies, will volunteer as the Campaign Chair and help meet its $5 million fundraising target.
“We are energized to see a long-time Guelph leader and a national housing advocate step into this vital campaign role,” commented Chris Willard, executive director for the Guelph Community Foundation (GCF). The GCF is co-leading the campaign with United Way of Guelph Wellington Dufferin.
“Jason and Skyline have already contributed so much to this campaign’s success. His passion, vision and work ethic are going to be a major boost to our efforts to raise money for these important projects,” Willard added.
The Home for Good Campaign will raise the capital required to complete three underway projects that will create 72 permanent supportive housing units in Guelph over the next year. Each project will provide people experiencing chronic homelessness with a place to call home and consistent social and emotional support.
In May 2022, Skyline Group of Companies announced a land donation valued at $1.7 million for the development of Kindle Communities Apartments, one of three permanent supportive housing projects currently underway in Guelph.
“Skyline is proud to have deep roots in Guelph and we recognize our responsibility as a business, rental provider, and employer to effect positive change in the city,” commented Ashdown. “We can turn opportunity into reality through a collaborative and creative approach. The Kindle Project is an excellent example of leveraging strategy and the combined resources of business, community, and government to deliver meaningful and long-term results around homelessness. I am excited to take on this role to harness the influence of our business community to help the most vulnerable. I look forward to connecting with individuals, businesses and organizations to rally support for this important campaign.”
Ashdown’s commitment to community and the issue of housing is well known. As a founding partner of one of Canada’s major rental housing providers, Jason has seen first-hand how families and individuals have struggled to make ends meet. In more than two decades of working with tenants and community organizations, Jason and the Skyline team understand the importance of secure housing to a person’s well-being.
Ashdown leads Skyline’s Sustainability team and steers the business’ corporate social responsibility efforts to promote housing security, provision of basic needs, and good mental health. He ensures that Skyline leverages its experience, influence and people to make meaningful change happen.
Click here to read an opinion piece from Jason exploring the role that businesses play in helping solve homelessness.
For more information please contact:
Glenna Banda
Executive Director, United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin
c 519.546.4990 | glenna@unitedwayguelph.com
Learn more about the campaign and its collaborative efforts to solve homelessness in Guelph Wellington at HomeForGoodGW.ca
