Ryan Bolton true story

Ryan Bolton's cover story in the Canadian Champion prompted this blog, which has now amassed over 32,000 views from 374 posts.

True story

Toronto writer and photographer, Ryan Bolton, and I have just made contact for the first time.

"Let me just start with: thank you.
I used to always say that the reason I write, the reason I tell stories, is that if one person reads something I penned and questions society, questions ideology, or starts a conversation about a topic, I've done my job.
And eight years removed, you just showcased this. On a story I hold near and dear, nonetheless."

Expect us to explore the background to this original article much more. At the time, Bolton was an intern at the Burlington Post back in 2008. Through his own investigation he started to uncover that members of the communities affected by a housing crises were being pushed out of affluent Milton, Burlington and Oakville into Hamilton or Toronto.

Bolton was struck by the fact that in Halton, with almost half a million people, there weren't any resources.

"In an affluent community that has money to spend, they wouldn't on those from poor socio-economic backgrounds." 

It was the September 12, 2008 Champion story written by Bolton that stimulated us to act. There were many challenges and dead-ends in the first few years. We persisted. There is comfort that now 5 individuals or families have graduated from the resulting Milton Transitional Housing program.

Bolton fittingly shared this quote from Robin Williams

"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world"

VISIT RYAN BOLTON'S WEBSITE 

Truly honoured

The Milton Transitional Housing summer newsletter included a great compliment about this blog. Thank you MTH.

JOHN’S BLOG: One gem that continues to provide information about the housing sector and MTH in particular is Milton Transitional Housing’s blog written by one of the organizations founders, John Gregory. The blog can be found at http://www.miltontransitionalhousing.ca/MTHBlog.aspx or http://homelessinmiltonontario.blogspot.ca

I am sure many of you understand the history behind this blog, which since it started in 2008 and which has now had almost 29,000 views. So to all of you, a big thank you.

Here is the first ever bog post:

Saturday, September 27, 2008
Canadian Champion Sept 12
The front page story of the Canadian Champion on September 12, 2008 was titled "Homelessness on the rise". It was a special to the Champion by Ryan Bolton. Under the front page photograph reads "With Halton's homeless population on the rise, a lack of shelters in the region is forcing many to seek a place to sleep in cities such as Hamilton, Mississauga and Toronto". Visit www.miltoncanadianchampion.com. Well done Champion and Ryan for printing this article on the front page.