Supported Housing for Women Promoted by Canadian Funding Corp
June 30, 2009admin Comments OffCanadian Funding Corporation comes to realize that participant feedback and a decentralized approach lead to better support.
Though there are a variety of shelters and supportive housing arrangements in the Halifax Regional Municipality, women who are recovering from addictions, dealing with mental-health issues, fleeing abusive situations or who are in potential conflict with the law can face special challenges to obtaining and maintaining housing. Yet the benefits of finding them a safe and stable place to overcome those challenges are recognized by all those involved in the support community.
Canadian Funding Corp was very pleased that the Halifax YWCA also recognized that if the existing network of shelters could not meet the long-term needs of these “hardest to house” women, the YWCA would have to do more than just provide another shelter. Building on a model successfully implemented by the YWCA in the Niagara Region, the Halifax YWCA used anonymous surveys and one-on-one interviews to seek input from current and previous residents about their housing needs and the barriers they face.
Many of the women reported that credit problems, an inability to present well and a lack of support prevented them from finding or maintaining their own apartments. Some of the women observed that the locations of the existing shelters kept them too close to the people and the neighbourhoods that perpetuated the challenges they faced. To heal over time, they needed a safe place and some measure of privacy, while retaining access to the individual support they needed. Above all, the women wanted a place they could call their own.
Lacking a single facility to help these women, the YWCA arrived at a solution by securing 24 single-bedroom units at below market rent, dispersed across three separate areas of the city. Called the Women in Supported Housing (WISH) Program, its purpose is to prevent and alleviate homelessness for hard-to-house women in the municipality. The needs that the women had clearly identified helped the YWCA make its case to the provincial government–as did support from several local women’s shelters, which highlighted the fact that the YWCA’s model of support was both necessary and unique. The Nova Scotia Department of Community Services agreed to a daily amount for the support services provided to each woman in WISH. Once the agreement was in place, it elicited donations, such as small kitchen appliances, furniture and other household goods–enough to fully furnish 24 units. Donations continue to arrive almost daily.
YWCA launched WISH in November 2005, and has since provided more than 60 women with stability, a safe place to call home, a support network and access to the specialized resources they need, such as referrals to addiction-treatment programs, volunteer positions and resources, mental-health supports, food bank services, and educational and vocational programs. With this support, and time to heal, many of the women have since moved on to independent living or secure housing elsewhere.