Inn Home Support - Homelessness Prevention Program
- Citizen participation
- Community development
- Housing
- Poverty alleviation
- Mentorship
- Vulnerable populations
- Volunteerism
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?
Founding Story
Inn from the Cold - Kelowna
, BC, Kelowna
, BC, Kelowna
Thompson Okanagan.
More than 5 years
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Operating for 1‐5 years
The primary goal of this initiative is prevent clients from becoming homeless again. By partnering volunteer Advocates with clients who are vulnerable to eviction, we are able to monitor the stability of the clients’ housing situations and arrange interventions to prevent eviction rather than trying to respond to an eviction after the fact. The program also aims to deepen the understanding in the wider Kelowna community of the challenges faced by vulnerable people by encouraging the long-term, one-to-one partnership between Advocates and clients.
The Inn Home Support program has been operations since 2008. Over the course of four years, some 62 clients have participated in the program. Of those, only two have lost their housing and, in both cases, new housing was secured shortly after their eviction. No client who has participated in the program is currently homeless. Twenty seven of the 62 clients are currently active in the program.
We would like to expand the program to include up to 40 active client participants while maintaining our successful record of preventing homelessness among the participants. The cost savings to the community of this voluntary based program, though not quantified, are believed to be very significant in terms of reduced need for medical emergency services alone. With Advocates regularly monitoring and reporting on the well being of clients, professional service providers are often able to intervene before a crisis escalates.
Increase the number of active client/Advocate partnerships to 30.
Undertake a survey of existing faith based organizations and service clubs in the Kelowna area.
Arrange for recruitment presentations for these groups.
Active follow-up on expressions of interest that these presentations may generate.
Increase the number of active client/Advocate partnerships to 40.
Continue to identify appropriate groups and arrange recruitment presentations. Avertise on social media and local classifieds.
Arrange follow-up presentations to groups earlier approached.
Increase and diversify activities in recruiting from existing sources of volunteers.
We have partnerships with various community agencies to operate this innovative program. Each program client is referred by a community outreach worker that provides professional support in addition to the advocacy and mentorship provided by our volunteers. These agencies include Canadian Mental Health Association, Brain Trust, Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society and Outreach Urban Health among others.
We are currently looking at expanding our program to target youth that are in transition from the foster care system to adulthood. We are exploring this possibility in partnership with Canadian Mental Health in Kelowna.
As a volunteer based organizations our overhead costs are kept very low. This builds community while creating a sustainable budget.