Report

Here and Now: Innovative Solutions to Youth Homelessness

The objective of this fifteen-month project, in collaboration with other youth-serving agencies and stakeholders in Winnipeg, was to pilot a 5 year action plan to prevent and reduce youth homelessness (aged 16-29) in Winnipeg. 
 
This project included streamlining and enhancing of services; creating and testing common measurement tools; developing a youth engagement strategy; and using solutions based on Indigenous self-determination and the principle of reconciliation.
 
This project builds on the 2016 report Here and Now: The Winnipeg Plan to End Youth Homelessness, which indicated that these elements are current challenges for service providers in preventing and reducing youth homelessness in Winnipeg. The need to integrate Indigenous teachings and sensitivities into the action plan was notable given that more than 80% of homeless youth in Winnipeg self-identify as Indigenous (The Winnipeg Street Census 2015). The 5-year action plan created in this project (Phase 1) will ultimately establish a foundation on which to implement these findings in the future (Phase 2).
 
This project was funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy’s Innovative Solutions to Homelessness program. The opinions and interpretations provided in the publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.