Greg Dewling is the CEO of Capital Region Housing Corporation (CRHC) based in Edmonton, Alberta, the largest affordable housing program in Alberta serving over 25,000 Albertans or 9,000 low-income families in the Edmonton region. Greg is a former pastor/minister from Newfoundland. I worked with Greg and his team two years ago to integrate well-being impact measurement into the organization’s vision statement and programs. A Well-being based approach to measuring the impacts of CRHC’s programs (over $86 million in housing assets under management) is unprecedented in. the affordable housing sector. Tenants are asked to complete a survey annually about their well-being across a broad spectrum of well-being attributes from health, happiness, financial, hope for their children and hope for their future. This ties in with CRCH’s view that “A home is more than just a roof overhead; it should be a safe and secure place where families build relationships and communities, where they enjoy economic prosperity and where they are happy and healthy.”
Greg shares his latest innovation delivering affordable housing at unprecedented low costs through a creative joint venture partnership between CRCHC (a social enterprise) and private developers. Imagine a future where Well-being Housing Bonds might become a new impact investment financial tool across Canada as a new means of financing affordable housing for 10% of the population that live with the challenges of low-income. That is Well-being Finance, by design.