New role for emergency shelters aims to end and prevent homelessness

Waterloo Region – The Region of Waterloo wants emergency shelters across the region to play a greater role in preventing and ending homelessness.

Regional Council approved a framework today that will see Region-funded shelters come together as one coordinated system. Their focus will be helping to prevent a shelter stay and helping those in shelter to find housing as quickly as possible.

“We only want shelters to admit people when there is no other safe and appropriate option available,” says Housing Services Director Deb Schlichter. “So when a person calls about a shelter because they are being evicted from their home, a worker will problem solve with them. It could mean connecting them to legal supports or family members to avoid a shelter stay. If they need a shelter stay, we will work with them to make it as short as possible.”

The Region successfully piloted this approach with families. In 2013-2015, two-thirds of 524 families who called the shelter because they were a few days away from losing their homes were able to avoid a shelter stay. Families who did need to access shelter found housing in half the time it took families in shelter to find housing before.

Under the new framework, people who enter a shelter will be helped to develop a housing plan within the first 48 hours of their stay. If they leave and later enter another shelter, the housing plan will follow them. This means people won’t have to tell their stories multiple times. If they need more support to find and keep their housing, they will be seamlessly connected to a worker that can help them do that.

“With a more coordinated approach to getting out of homelessness, we will see fewer people fall through the cracks,” says Schlichter.

-30-

For more information, contact:
Deb Schlichter
Director, Housing Services
Region of Waterloo
519-883-2190
DSchlichter@regionofwaterloo.ca