Provide a continuum of options – shelter, transitional and permanent supportive housing

Provide a continuum of options – shelter, transitional and permanent supportive housing

The impact of homelessness can be reduced for specific at-risk target populations by increasing the amount and variety of supportive housing options…with differing levels of staff support, depending upon the needs of the client group, and can range from on-site, full-time support to outreach support offered on a periodic basis to maintain a level of stability. Supportive housing can also range from short-term, temporary situations to long-term (possibly even life-long) options. Examples of the types of supportive housing options that are required include:

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  An apartment complex with transitional units for families who are unable to access market housing due to poor tenancy skills - Staff of this program would assist tenants to develop better tenancy skills, rebuild damage deposits and pay off arrears to other housing providers, and provide life skills teaching around budgeting, goal setting and parenting issues. Families could stay in transitional housing up to one year to accomplish their goals and find market-housing options. The facility could be self-sustaining, as staffing costs can be covered through tenant rents and the building can be a charity lease through the Government. Housing units can be completely furnished and supplied through donations of goods from the community.
  
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  Housing First programs should recognize and encompass the positive elements provided by transitional housing and examine how to preserve safety, support, time and a community of women. [A Place to Rest]
  
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  The homelessness sector should continue to support transitional and supportive housing options for women. [A Place to Rest]
  
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  Housing First programs that support homeless women need to facilitate the building of stronger staff/client relationships based in respect and dignity. [A Place to Rest]
  
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  Housing First programs must recognize the need for tailored programming for homeless women, especially those with histories of trauma, immigrant women and Aboriginal women. [A Place to Rest]
  
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  …community housing programs serving women need to foster the creation and maintenance of informal community – for instance, by including communal spaces in the design of their buildings. [A Place to Rest]
  
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  A holistic, women-centred housing program be developed to address the needs of immigrant women who are single mothers, women who experience family violence, single women, middle aged women, and women with children to help them settle and integrate successfully in Canada. [Testing an Integrated…]
  

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  Designate transitional housing for non-status migrant mothers, which should be home-like, private, and independent. Women must have the right to access this service without fear of deportation. [Better Off in a Shelter?...]
  

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  Provincial and Municipal governments, along with their funded agencies, should improve the overall quality and extent of shelter and emergency hostel services for women and children in Toronto to increase safety, security and access to needed temporary shelter supports. [Common Occurrence]
  
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  Increase the number of emergency shelters.
  

…Shelters need to have enough funding to provide safe, healthy care and provide adequate support services (e.g. counseling, respite childcare, referrals, life planning). A twenty-four hour shelter is recommended, in combination with the intense involvement of mental health and Social Services on a consistent basis to help women address the issues that have resulted in their homelessness and to support them to re-enter society. Individual program planning is ideal, helping women gain life readiness skills to address all the determinants of their homelessness. [You Just Blink...]

Federal and provincial/territorial governments as well as band councils responsible for housing must respond to the specific housing and income issues experienced by Aboriginal women living on and off reserves. This would include: earmarking funds for the construction of new units specifically for Aboriginal women on and off-reserve that are culturally appropriate and that accommodate families of different sizes; ensuring that all Aboriginal women have sufficient funds (perhaps through a portable shelter allowance financed by the Federal government) to access existing and new housing stock on and off reserve; and allocating existing housing stock in a non-discriminatory fashion, prioritizing those in need. [Barriers]

NWAC calls for more safe housing for young women and more programs across the country providing shelter, life skills, mentoring support, and wrap-around services for Aboriginal women, youth and families in need and that the government comply with Canada’s international commitments that enshrine Aboriginal girls’ and women’s rights to adequate food, clothing and housing, and to living conditions that are continuously improving …[Gender Matters]