Module 4

● Introduction
○ Topics to Ponder On
■ How interventions are discussed and shared by dominant
narratives within Canada and the USA
● Interventions to Homelessness
○ Housing First
■ Recovery centred approach
● Focused on quickly moving people experience it
homelessness into permanent housing
■ First established by sam in New York in the 1990’s
■ People are better able to move forward with their lives if they are
first housed
■ 5 core principles
● Immediate access to permanent housing with no housing
readiness requirements
○ Housing is not conditional on sobriety, or dealing
with a mental health issue. It is just given.
● Consumer choice and self-determination
○ Rights based client approach
○ Clients are able to exercise choose about where
about
○ What services they receive and how they will
receive it
● Recovery Orientation
○ Focused on individuals well being
○ People need access to a range of supports that
will help them maintain connections and
relationships
● Individualised and client driven support
○ Not a one size fits all mentality
○ Supports need to be tailored to each person
● Social and community integration
 ○ There needs to be opportunities to participate in
meaningful activities in their community
■ This housing model does not isolate person. It helps to alleviate
some risk factors and trauma.
○ Cooperative Housing Model
■ Housing coops provide at cost housing for it’s members
■ Controlled by members who have a vote on decisions
■ No outside landlords
■ Started in the 70s/80s under government social housing
programs
■ Being a part of the housing coop means a few things
● A voting member in the house
● Part of the community where everyone looks out for
another
● Living in a house that will stay affordable
● Part of a worldwide movement around housing coop
● Eric Wexler
○ Tells his story of living on the streets and becoming very entrenched
into the street culture
○ He went to jail multiple times, was almost killed at the age of 16
○ His wife was his saving armour. She taught him a lot about navigation
and how to deal with all the issues in school and how to navigate the
school.
○ Theres various ways for people to enter into the sector
■ One thing that is similar to them is that they have all been
bounced around the system
■ They are more susceptible to mental health problems (sex
trafficking), religious factors.
● There are many factors that lead people to homelessness