At Home/Chez Soi, a four-year, publicly funded project in five Canadian cities aimed to provide practical, meaningful support to Canadians experiencing homelessness and mental health problems. The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) demonstrated, evaluated and shared knowledge about the effectiveness of the so called ‘housing first’ approach, where people were provided with a place to live and then offered recovery-oriented services and supports that best meet their individual needs. In the course of the project it turned out that housing is only the first step and once people have secured quality housing, they are motivated to achieve other goals. A central recommendation indicated that chronical homelessness can only be solved through cross-ministerial approaches and cooperations, which combine health, housing, social services with non-profit and private sector partners.

Further details on the project and download materials (e.g. a housing first toolkit, etc.) are available here: http://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/initiatives-and-projects/home