HOMELESSNESS

REACHING HOME

The Human Development Council is the Community Entity (CE) for Reaching Home, Canada’s Homelessness Strategy. In our role as the CE, we work with local Community Advisory Boards in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John to develop community plans/priorities and fund projects, through an open transparent process, to reduce homelessness.

COORDINATED ACCESS

Under the Reaching Home program, phe Human Development Council launched the Coordinated Access System to streamline access to housing supports for those experiencing homelessness. Providing backbone support for the system, the Human Development Council manages HIFIS and the By Name List and works with many agencies, programs, and government departments to prioritize people for housing and connect them to supports. To view historical HIFIS data, visit the NB Data Portal under INFORMATION & DATA.

WHAT IS REACHING HOME?

Canada’s Homelessness Strategy is a community-based program aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness across Canada. This program provides funding to urban, Indigenous, rural and remote communities to help them address their local homelessness needs.

Reaching Home supports the goals of the National Housing Strategy, in particular, to support the most vulnerable Canadians in maintaining safe, stable and affordable housing and to reduce chronic homelessness nationally by 50% by the fiscal year 2027 to 2028.

For more information on Reaching Home funding, please contact Greg Bishop by email at greg@sjhdc.ca or call 506.636.8541. There are also community homelessness reports that are required according to reaching home outcomes. For more homelessness reports see the RESEARCH & REPORTS tab.

WHAT IS COORDINATED ACCESS?

Coordinated Access is a key component of the Reaching Home program and it streamlines access to housing supports for those experiencing homelessness.

HIFIS is the main program that facilitates the coordinated access program. HIFIS stands for Homeless Individuals and Families Information System. It is a web program and database that allows multiple organizations to work collaboratively to help clients and track data on homelessness.

Within HIFIS is the Coordinated Access List (CA List). The CA List is the centralized list for prioritizing housing supports and services for people experiencing homelessness. The list offers a single, standardized process to connect people to supports and services. With improved coordination and efficient intake practices, people experiencing homelessness can access appropriate supports and services more quickly.