OUR PROJECTS
Below is a list of the HDC's programs, community development initiatives, and research partnerships.
COORDINATION
HOMELESSNESS: REACHING HOME AND COORDINATED ACCESS
The Human Development Council is the Community Entity (CE) for Reaching Home, Canada’s Homelessness Strategy in Saint John, Moncton, and Fredericton. As CE, we work with local Community Advisory Boards to develop community plans/priorities and fund projects, through an open transparent process, to reduce homelessness.
Under the Reaching Home program, the 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 the Homeless Individuals and Families Information System (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.
For More Information, click here.
URBAN YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION SERVICES (UYES)
UYES! (Urban Youth Employment/Education Services) was a project co-delivered by the Human Development Council, Saint John Learning Exchange, Teen Resource Centre, and other service providers in Waterloo Village.
UYES! provided wrap-around services for youth aged 15-30, enabling them to overcome barriers and tap into the supports they need to further their education, prepare for and gain meaningful employment, and take part in community projects that build confidence, skills, purpose, and relationships, while enriching neighborhoods.
For more information click here.
CHILD AND FAMILY POVERTY NATIONAL COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
In 1989, the Canadian House of Commons unanimously resolved to eliminate child poverty by 2000. Campaign 2000 was formed in 1991 out of concern for the government’s lack of progress in reducing child poverty. It is a network of 120 partners nationwide working to address social issues like child and family poverty. Campaign 2000 authors an annual national Child and Family Poverty Report Card. Partnering organizations in different provinces and territories write region-specific reports.
The Human Development Council is a member of Campaign 2000’s Steering Committee and Community of Practice. We author New Brunswick’s Child and Family Poverty Report Card. These annual reports hold government to account for a promise to Canadian children that has not been met.
Read our Child and Family Poverty Report Cards here.
LIVING WAGE NATIONAL COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
The Human Development Council is a member of the National Living Wage Community of Practice. This group is comprised of living wage and social policy researchers, as well as coordinators of living wage employer certification programs across Canada.
The Community of Practice gives members opportunities to share knowledge, experience, resources, and support. It also helps in aligning the methodology for calculating living wages in Canada each year. The Human Development Council has calculated living wages in New Brunswick since 2018.
Read our Living Wage reports here.
IRIS LOCAL PARTNERSHIP IN SAINT JOHN
The Human Development collaborates with the Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society (IRIS), a Toronto-based organization, to coordinate a Local Safety and Inclusion Solidarity Network in Saint John. IRIS has been working with local partners in communities across Canada since 2012 to facilitate similar networks.
Local Safety and Inclusion Solidarity Networks aim to give voice to the most marginalized of the marginalized in our society. The networks consist of women and non-binary people from local Indigenous and racialized populations, and people with disabilities. They work to dismantle barriers to inclusion and address social issues like gender-based violence, access to justice, and housing insecurity.
ACTION RESEARCH ON CHRONIC HOMELESSNESS (ARCH)
The ARCH initiative seeks to identify and document persistent barriers encountered by communities to preventing and reducing chronic homelessness, test potential approaches to address these barriers, and document successes and challenges to preventing and reducing chronic homelessness.
The ARCH-NB project is a collaborative effort between the HDC and Kolopehtuwan-Mip Turning Leaf Foundation. Its objectives are to: explore the alignment with the corrections systems to prevent discharges into homelessness by improving case management practices for people in corrections, invest more resources towards Indigenous programming, and pilot a systems navigator role to better support clients and test early intervention approaches for those at risk of homelessness.
NB POWER 2024-2025 GENERAL RATE APPLICATION INTERVENER
The Human Development Council had intervenor status in the NB Power 2024-2025 General Rate Application hearing.
The utility called for increases in residential electricity rates of 9.8% in 2025 and 9.8% in 2026. Our organization’s advocacy interests concern low-income ratepayers, who are disproportionately impacted by such rate increases and experience a heightened risk of energy poverty.
Read our Energy Poverty in New Brunswick report here.