In early September, we launched an Outreach Housing Team whose sole purpose is to locate, engage, and house people who are homeless. The team will work in under-serviced and unreached areas of the city where homeless people congregate and provide follow-up support, resources, and services as required for those who are housed.
We have formed valuable partnerships with the Neighbour Centre, Edmonton Public Library, Homeward Trust’s Coordinated Intake Workers, All Saints Cathedral, and other organizations to ensure we are reaching out to as many homeless people as we can.
“The Outreach Housing Team should help us double the number of homeless people we house and support to 500 per year.”
The new Outreach Housing Team is an important addition to our Housing Services Programs, which includes Homeless to Homes (H2H) and Community Bridge. H2H asserts that housing should be addressed prior to any other barrier in an individual’s life by providing stable housing, while our Community Bridge aims to prevent homelessness by stopping imminent evictions by providing financial support and intervention services for people at risk of becoming homeless.
Funding for the Outreach Housing Team was initiated by the Strathcona High School Leadership Program through their Treehouse Project fundraiser in early 2015. They raised $190,000, which shattered their fundraising goal and gave us the opportunity to expand the size and reach of our team!
Please visit the Outreach Housing Team webpage for more information and how to access the team.