Supplemental Resources
Change in agency culture and service system culture when implementing housing first
This module is an overview of how agency and service system culture often needs to change when implementing Housing First.
Housing First and Indigenous Communities
The Winnipeg At Home Chez Soi (AHCS) project delivered a housing first program that had high fidelity to the model and it incorporated local elements to ensure that culturally based options for Indigenous participants (the majority of staff and just over 70% of program staff and program participants were indigenous) and helped to anchor and integrate the housing first program into this community’s setting. This module was written collaboratively with clinical and research members of the Winnipeg AHCS team to ensure that the material presented here is based in clinical experience and practices that produced excellent outcomes for housing stability and improvements in quality of life for participants and this was documented in rigorous research evaluations.
Identifying and Engaging Priority Populations
This module is an overview of how to identify and engage priority populations for Housing First programs. It is organized into three sections: (i) Key Messages, (ii) Key Questions, and (iii) Appendices and Resources. The Key Messages section gives a brief summary of how one can think about identifying and engaging the “right” people to be served by the Housing First model. The Key Questions section is organized into a serious of general questions about common challenges that communities often face. The final contains additional information on identifying and engaging populations for Housing First that includes external links to additional resources.
Housing First, Cultural Competence and Ethno-Racial Communities
The Toronto Housing First (At Home/Chez Soi) Ethno-Racial Intensive Case Management (HF ER ICM) project[1] delivers Housing First ensuring culturally based options for ethno-racial groups experiencing homelessness. We relied on the lessons learned from the AH/CS HF teams so that we can be confident that the information presented here is based in clinical experience and the practices of HF programs that produced excellent outcomes for housing stability and improvements in quality of life for participants and this was documented in rigorous research evaluations. Serving the diverse needs of different minority groups requires an Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression (AR/AO) practice. Combining a Housing First model with an AR/AO practice allows for a comprehensive, culturally sensitive approach to the housing, health, and socio-cultural needs of various ethno-racial groups. The many lessons learned from the successful Housing First Ethno-Racial program are summarized in this module.
