Homeless Amid COVID – Edmonton’s Collaborative Response

Homeless Amid Covid (#HomelessAmidCOVID) is a video series highlighting Edmonton’s collaborative response to protect people experiencing homelessness during COVID-19.

Video made in partnership with Bissell Centre, Boyle Street Community Services, Boyle McCauley Health Centre, and Homeward Trust. Video production: PlanIT Sound.

Episode 1: The Day Services

Take a tour through the Day Drop-in that was located at the Edmonton Expo Centre to learn about the critical services provided and how collaboration has kept people safe and supported through the pandemic.

Episode 2 – The Isolation Shelter

In the second episode of this series, we’ll take a walk through the Isolation Shelter, a temporary facility that was set up to provide screening, testing, health services and self isolation space for Edmonton’s most vulnerable people during the COVID-19 public health crisis.

Episode 3: A Way Home

In the third episode of this series, we meet Rob, a Boyle Street client who details his story from homelessness to housing through the bridge housing offered at the Coliseum Inn. This was made possible by the coordinated service delivery available to people experiencing homelessness through Edmonton’s collaborative response during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Episode 4: Behind the Data

In the fourth episode of this series, we learn about the key role Edmonton’s innovative and data-driven systems play in supporting and moving people out of homelessness, and how these systems have been able to adapt during the pandemic.

Episode 5: A Safe Place

In the fifth and final episode of Homeless Amid COVID, we learn how the quick, sector-wide response of more than 20 organizations and all levels of government, led to impactful front-line efforts that provided a much-needed safe space for those experiencing homelessness in Edmonton during the pandemic.

While the Expo Centre was a short-term solution to provide these supports and services, the work of keeping this vulnerable population safe continues. Ultimately, the solution to homelessness is housing.

Funding support from the Government of Canada’s Reaching Home program, the Government of Alberta – Ministry of Community and Social Services and the City of Edmonton.