Shelters to Housing Stability Program Description
~ A STEP Home Initiative ~
PURPOSE:
To establish and maintain a relationship with people approaching of or experiencing
persistent homelessness, who have repeatedly accessed emergency shelters, to
support the transition from the shelter to housing stability.
BACKGROUND:
Shelters to Housing Stability began in the Region of Waterloo in late 2004 as a pilot
under the name of Shelter Transition and Overflow Coordination (STOC). STOC was
funded by the federal government under Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative
(SCPI) and received extension funding until December 2007.
STOC originally operated through two emergency shelters (YWCA-Mary’s Place and
Charles St. Men’s Hostel). The Cambridge Shelter was added to STOC in April 2007.
STOC allowed for staff to support shelter residents to move from homelessness into
permanent housing. In addition, it provided for additional resources (e.g. staff, motel,
food and transportation costs), in times of full capacity at the shelter, to place overflow
residents in motels. The initial STOC pilot was successful, providing 4,946 overflow bed
nights, 4,739 support services (assistance with finding and maintaining housing and
connecting to and accessing resources), and assisted 182 people to achieve housing
stability.
STOC funding ended December 2007 and a program evaluation was completed in
January 2008. While STOC funding ended, work was in progress to initiate a new
iteration of the program as an action item of the Homelessness to Housing Stability
Strategy (2007-2010) through the Homelessness to Housing Stability Strategy Fund
(passed by Regional Council in January 2008). Shelters to Housing Stability was
developed between January and May 2008, and began operating in June 2008. Argus
Residence for Young People began to offer Shelters to Housing Stability in February
2010.
Shelters to Housing Stability, incorporates objectives set out in the Homelessness to
Housing Stability Strategy (2007-2010), and is modeled on learnings from STOC, from
the Provincial pilot “Hostels to Homes” (piloted in five other Ontario communities from
2008-2010), and from Toronto’s successful “Street to Homes”. While Shelters to
Housing Stability is similar to STOC in that the goal is to support shelter residents
towards housing stability, it differs in that Shelters to Housing Stability has greater clarity
in who it is attempting to support, offers support for a longer period of time, and
operates as a program within STEP Home (support to end persistent homelessness).
Another change is that the overflow bed component that was included in STOC has
been separated and placed within shelter system coordination.
1171745
1
Funding in 2008 was $31,111 per shelter. From 2009 to 2011 funding per shelter was
$53,333. Funding was increased slightly in 2012 to $54,346. Each shelter has 1FTE.
The STEP Home Year 3 Evaluation captured program data from June 2008 to
December 2010. Data showed 94 people served across all Shelters to Housing
Stability programs. Participants’ experiences of homelessness ranged most recently
from a few months up to 10 years. A total of 15 people within this time-frame
transitioned into stable, more conventional housing and no longer required the intensive
support of the program. Thirty people were continuing their involvement with the
program and 49 were no longer active (11 withdrew, 11 lost contact, 9 left area, 2 were
deceased and 1 was in a correctional facility).
All other aspects of the program description are included in the STEP Home
Description 2012.
1171745
2