Bridge Housing provides short-term (21–90 days), continuous-stay accommodation to help single adults “bridge” the gap from homelessness to permanent housing. Housing outreach workers connect people to dorm or hotel-style accommodations with showers, meals, laundry and private storage while providing needed support to move them to permanent housing as quickly as possible. This can include assisting individuals with basic needs, health and wellness support, accessing income support, and obtaining identification.
Supportive housing is a unique combination of affordable housing and on-site services that provide stability, autonomy, and dignity for those who would otherwise struggle to find and maintain a permanent home. Tenants hold their own leases and pay rent while receiving 24/7 support for health, wellness, and life skills. They are also provided with case management services and connections to service providers, mental health support, and other resources.
Short-term supportive Housing (STSH) is temporary housing from six to 18 months that accommodates youth (18 to 26 years) and single adults who have experienced homelessness to help stabilize and transition to permanent housing. Short-term supportive housing programs provide a longer-term intervention for participants, accept referrals from outside of housing support programs, and offer dedicated services tailored to homeless participants with more specific support requirements.
We recognize we are gathered, in collaboration and with joint purpose, on Treaty 6 territory. This territory is the traditional home and gathering place for diverse Indigenous peoples. The nêhiyaw (Cree), Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Dene, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Anishinaabe (Saulteaux/Ojibwe), Nakota Isga (Nakota Sioux), Inuit, and Métis, among many others cared for this land since time immemorial and continue to steward it today. As visitors in this territory, we honour the importance of the Treaty and our responsibility to these communities. Only in partnership can we create the changes necessary to end homelessness. It is vital we meaningfully engage and partner with Indigenous people and communities in this work while recognizing and addressing the conditions brought forth by colonialism. Displacement from traditional homelands, systemic racism, residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, and the ongoing overrepresentation of Indigenous people in child welfare, correctional systems, and homelessness are responsibilities we all share.