1. Housing Policies
1.1. Vancouver
1.1.1. City of Vancouver Housing Strategies (2017)
1.1.1.1. - One of their top priorities is to support diverse ways of living such as collective housing - Of Strategy 3: increase the use of inclusionary housing policies and improve city processes to deliver affordable housing for low income households, seniors at risk of homelessness and youth aging out of foster care are listed among those with the greatest housing and support needs.
1.1.2. What Works: affordable housing initiatives in Metro Vancouver municipalities (2012)
1.1.2.1. - This analysis of affordable housing initiatives in Vancouver lists projects that operate on some end of the housing continuum. Municipalities have an important role to play in facilitating the supply and preservation of housing. Inclusionary zoning and density bonusing are identified as highly effective and low cost. - Community partnerships: Time and again, community partnerships and community support prove to be critical to the success of supportive/ transitional and non-market housing projects. Community partners, such as non-profit organizations, can play an important role in overcoming public opposition that so often accompanies emergency, transitional and supportive housing initiatives. These partnerships can also be a valuable source for capital contributions that help bring projects to fruition. In addition, these organizations are knowledgeable about their communities or client group and often act as the operating partner, managing the housing and support services on an ongoing basis.
1.2. Calgary
1.2.1. Coordinated Access for Homelessness in Calgary (2018)
1.3. Canada
1.3.1. Poverty Reduction Strategy (2018)
2. News Articles
2.1. Home Sharing
2.1.1. Seniors have too much house, millennials have none, and a business model is born (2018)
2.1.1.1. - Article detailing the benefits of intergenerational homesharing. It includes data of who is over housed and under housed. It provides a story of one woman who welcomed younger people into her home to help with rent and chores around the house in Nova Scotia.
2.1.2. The city wants to help Toronto seniors rent out their unused rooms to cash strapped millennials (2018)
2.1.2.1. - The article describes the relationship between a Toronto woman whose life was saved by a younger tenant who was sharing a home. She attended a session for HomeShare a new pilot project from the National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly that is bringing seniors and students together. 95% of her experiences with renters have been positive. The tenants see Elizabeth Hill more as a friend than a landlord.
2.1.3. Why university students love living with seniors
2.1.3.1. McMaster University has an intergenerational co-housing program called Symbiosis. Students apply and are matched with roommates who are in their senior years.
2.2. Affordable Housing
2.2.1. Affordable Housing a top concern for people living in poverty, report finds (2018)
2.2.1.1. - Report includes stories of those experiencing poverty. Outreach included 28 local meetings in all areas of the province. One of the compelling things in the report was the problem of social isolation, people in poverty get alienated very quickly.
3. Research (Partners)
3.1. Seniors
3.1.1. Allies in Aging (2017)
3.1.1.1. - This report details the findings of In With Forward’s research with older adults to understand their experience and engagement with social services. The report provides research questions, top insights, pain points, segmentation, and ideas moving forward that might address the needs of those in each of the population segments they connected with.
3.1.2. Aging in Place Survey - Cooperative Housing Federation of BC (2017)
3.2. Youth
3.2.1. Collective Impact TRRUST (2016)
3.2.1.1. - The report consolidates content gathered for the Youth Aging-Out of Care Initiative. Information from four community gatherings, surveys, evaluations, research. Since April 2014 more than 40 organizations and 20 youth have committed to a unified approach to participating in gatherings. Success is measured when: 1. Youth believe their voice matters and they experience a sense of belonging 2. Their transition from care is transformative, helpful and secure 3. Data is shared to improve service provision 4. Organizations work collectively to meet the needs of youth 5. The public supports youth
3.2.2. Empty Nests (2017)
3.2.2.1. - 65% would be interested in sharing their home with someone from a different generation, but there is a lot of hesitancy regarding differing values and lifestyles. - Youth indicated they would contribute 5-10 hours of service a week
4. Home and Life Sharing
4.1. Guide
4.1.1. A Consumer's Guide to Homesharing (2012)
4.1.1.1. - This resource describes intergenerational homesharing, provides questions for participants to determine their own suitability, how homesharers can interview one another, discussion points for homesharers, how to address conflict when it arises and finally provides a model homesharing agreement.
4.1.2. Home Together Canada (2017)
4.1.2.1. - After two years of research, Home Together Canada created a free central registry with the needed tools and guidelines necessary to the success of shared living. This free site went live on January 10, 2018. - By supplying the tools necessary to successful sharing to all, this single free site provides agencies and organizations the ability to develop programs and services that can be specifically tailored to address the needs of their clients, no matter their age, ability or need.
4.1.3. Host Home Handbook (2018)
4.2. Promising Practices
4.2.1. Host Home Best Practices
4.2.1.1. - This resource looks at models for host home programs in Washington for homeless youth or youth who are at risk of homelessness. It includes recommendations and best practices from experts all over the US. - One key finding was that host home programs appear to be most effective when community driven and developed at the grassroots level as a response to an identified need. A barrier notes was resistance from youth who have experienced trauma and liken host homes to foster care and are resistant to being places in an intimate, home environment. - Other lessons include allowing youth to be the driving force in the youth-host matching process, matching youth with hosts who share their identity, providing external support and creasing shared understanding between the youth and the host around what the living arrangement will look like. - Language of “placement” is not used, hosts are not compensated as this has powerful meaning to many youth who have come out of the foster care system and youth are provided more information about the prospective hosts than the hosts do about the youth, minimizing the inherent power imbalance.
4.2.2. Shared Lives Plus Principles of Partnership
4.2.2.1. - The document provides the organization’s values, vision, mission, expectations, membership fees, schemes.
4.2.3. Creating a Shared Home (2014)
4.2.3.1. - Her literature found that shared housing improves stability, decreases rent burden and can cut benefits as household size increases, lead to economies of scale (pooling financial resources for household goods that are shared). She then lists program profiles and a description of schemes. The author makes the case for shared housing. Her best practices include making people aware it is an option, making matches easy, thinking analytically about the good fit of matches, developing a roommate agreement, developing good landlord relationships and offering ongoing mediation.
4.3. Research
4.3.1. HomeShare Canada - LEAP
4.3.1.1. - The research finds that 1 in 5 Canadian renters face an affordable housing crisis. Solidarity between generations is the key for equity and social inclusion. - 20% of Canadians experience loneliness and the prevalence of loneliness peaks in adolescence and then again in senior years. Social isolation is on par with high blood pressure, obesity, lack of exercise or smoking as a risk factor for illness and early death. Loneliness can impair health by raising levels of stress, is associated with poorer cognitive function and can increase the likelihood of falls. One quarter of Canadians aged 65 and over lived alone and half of men and women who lives alone reported some degree of loneliness.
4.3.2. Is Shared Housing a Way to Reduce Homelessness (2010)
4.3.2.1. Most single adults share housing with other adults, and living alone is considerably more expensive than living with someone else. Yet policies that discourage shared housing for formerly homeless people or people at risk of becoming homeless are common, and those that encourage it are rare. This would be understandable if such housing adversely affected its users in some way. We ask whether shared housing produces adverse effects. Our provisional answer is no. For the most part, whether a person lives alone or shares housing seems to make no difference to the outcomes we studied although shared housing is associated with reduced psychotic symptomology. We use data from ACCESS, a 5-year, 18-site demonstration project with over 6,000 formerly homeless individuals as participants.
4.3.3. Understanding Community Integration
4.3.3.1. - Community integration or lack thereof is significant in the lives of project participants. Integration was a process that each participant approached differently.
4.3.4. Shared Accomodations
4.3.4.1. - This paper is a thesis on shared accommodation which looks at the idea of what shared means and how we as a society think and talk about living together.
4.3.5. Living a Good Life (2014)
4.3.5.1. - Home sharing supports people with intellectual disabilities and is the fastest growing residential option in the province. The study explains the theoretical background, and results of the study and analysis. Thematic findings include 1) personal development 2) self-determination 3) interpersonal relationships 4) social inclusion 5) rights 6) emotional well-being 7) physical well-being 8) material well-being.
5. Older Adults
5.1. Isolation
5.1.1. Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Seniors in Vancouver (2018)
5.1.1.1. In the City of Vancouver, social isolation and loneliness are of particular concern as there will be a 79% increase in population of local residents aged 65-74 and a 105% increase in those aged 75+ over the next 25 years. Moreover, a survey by Vancouver Coastal Health found that over half of residents aged 65 and older report that they do not have at least four people in their social network they can confide in. At a broader level, a quarter of residents aged 65 and older say they do not feel a sense of community belonging.
5.1.2. Who's at risk and what can be done about it? (2017)
5.1.2.1. o 16% of seniors felt isolated from others often or some of the time. o 6% of seniors reported spending little or no time with someone with whom they could complete enjoyable activities. o 5% indicated having someone to listen to them none or little of the time. o More than 8% reported having someone to receive advice about a crisis none or little of the time. o 3.9% of seniors reported having someone who shows love and affection to them none or little of the time. o 6% reported having someone to do something enjoyable with none or little of the time. o 6% reported never or not often participating in activities with family and friends. o 17.3% reported feeling excluded often or some of the time. Characteristics of promising interventions: o Based on coherent theory, involve seniors at all steps, use participatory approaches, target groups of individuals who share common characteristics, target loneliness and social isolation directly, use multiple interventions, train and support co-coordinators and frontline providers, mobilize community resources, involve nurses and health professionals as gatekeepers and advocates.
5.2. Housing
5.2.1. Senior's Housing in BC (2015)
5.2.1.1. - Seniors want to live independently in their homes and local communities, but the high living costs has an impact on the affordability of independent housing options. Many accept they will have to move to housing that incorporates a support or care component. - This is a review of the issues across the continuum of independent housing. What are the most pressing needs? - 93% live independently - 80% are homeowners - 20% are renters - 26% live alone - 4% live independently but receive provincially subsidized home care - 3% live in assisted living - 4% live in residential care - 35% who rent live on a household income of $20,000 or less
5.3. General Services
5.3.1. BC Senior's Poverty Report Card (2018)
5.3.1.1. - As of 2015, BC had the highest poverty rate for seniors of any province or territory in Canada (p.7). - The number of poor seniors in BC grew for the third time in a row in 2015 (p.8). - Single seniors are more than three times as likely to be poor than seniors in couple families. - 16% of single seniors in BC live in poverty, compared to 5% for seniors living in couple families. - Senior women are at a higher risk of poverty and are more likely to live alone (p.9). - Seniors living in BC are more likely to have a strong sense of belonging to local community (p.11). - 1 in 5 seniors in BC are living in affordable housing in 2016. - 20% of seniors reported having housing affordability challenges in BC and overall there are 144,790 seniors facing unaffordable housing costs in 2016 (p.12). - Almost 6,000 seniors are on BC Housing’s Housing Registry, an increase of 59% from 2012-2017 (p.13). - There are more homeless seniors in Metro Vancouver, an increase of 284% from 2008-2017 (p.14). - Metro Vancouver has the highest poverty rate of seniors of any urban area in BC in 2015 (p.15).
5.3.2. Monitoring Senior's Services Report (2017)
5.3.2.1. • 21% of owned households with one or more senior had a household income of <$30,000. • 5986 people aged 55> approved for (SSH) Supportive Senior Housing are waiting for an available unit. • The number of people 55> waiting for a unit has risen by 16% in the last year alone. • The number of SSH housing units available has decreased by almost 5%. • Only 9% of those waiting received a subsidized unit. • The percentage of applicants housed has decreased from 13 to 9% since 2014/15. • Tax deferrals by homeowners aged 55> have increased by 94% • The average income of single SAFER recipients in the province is $1,521 per mo. or $18,252 per year. 94% of SAFER recipients are single.
6. Youth Aging Out
6.1. Economic Analysis
6.1.1. Opportunities in Transition
6.1.1.1. - 1,000 youth age out of government care and youth agreements each year at age 19. They often lack the financial resources to meet basic needs, have difficulty finding housing and often struggle with mental health issues. - 60% of youth in care are indigenous. . In 2013/14, only 32% of BC youth aging out of care had completed grade 12 at age 19 compared to almost 84% among the general population. They undertake post-secondary studies at half the rate of the general population. - Employment rates are low and concentrated in low paying jobs. Inadequate or transient housing is a common experience shared by many youth aging out of care. 45% of youth aging out of care indicated they had suffered homelessness at some point. - Almost 70% of youth aging out in BC reported involvement with the criminal justice system. Almost 50% of street youth with substance abuse problems have some sort of care experience. Death rates for youth aging out of care in BC are 6.5 times the general population.
6.2. Homelessness
6.2.1. Surviving or Thriving (2017)
6.2.1.1. - Includes an inventory of housing options available for youth aged 19-24, market housing, Vancouver housing assets map, analysis of key challenges and a summary of housing models. - Youth indicated housing was not safe for LGBTQ2S+, discrimination, shortage of safe affordable housing, high cost of housing, housing that doesn’t suit their needs, mental health and addiction and lack of support as main barriers to find housing. In order to secure housing after transition, youth cited that it would be helpful to have adults help them find somewhere to live, knowing their rights as tenants, understanding the landlord and a stable job as well as access to a phone, rental subsidies and adults to co-sign leases. - Youth who had been on AYAs are less likely than youth in group homes and respite care to want an adult to help them find housing. Culturally safe spaces were discussed – youth wanted a place free from discrimination where people can express themselves without fear of judgment.
6.2.2. A Safe and Decent Place to Live (2014)
6.2.2.1. - Young people who are homeless are defined as those between 13-24 who are living independently of caregivers and lack social supports deemed necessary for the transition from childhood to adulthood. - Important to consider the diversity of needs within this population as well (age, gender, sexual orientation or identity, race) - Issues that came up specifically for youth included age and maturity (running their own household can be overwhelming), potential isolation (fear the disconnection of being in a home without strong social and community supports), legal issues (mental health, child protections, eligibility for income support) can complicate access to support, length of supports (young people need supports for longer than others as they mature into an independent adult), trust building (trauma, takes time to establish trust), responses must include preventative strategies, early intervention (family reconnection and host homes) and a range of support options. - Vancouver: Directions Youth Services Centre- Housing First, ages 19-24 receive support over two years to find, acquire and maintain housing. - Calgary: Infinity Project from the Boys and Girls Club of Calgary. Serves 16-24 year old to be permanently housed and to increase and maintain self-sufficiency and a successful transition to adulthood- offered a range of supports- reconnection with family, career goals, exploring community resources - In some cases, those with mental health or addictions challenges may find independence too much to handle and could feel set up to fail. - Housing First should also mean preference first - Lists the types of supports that may be needed.
6.2.3. Vancouver Final Report: At Home/Chez Soi (2014)
6.2.3.1. - Housing first is a viable intervention for people experiencing chronic homelessness in Vancouver. It impacts the use of health, social and justice system services. Housing first achieves positive outcomes in quality of life and community functioning in diverse neighbourhoods.
6.3. Social Capital
6.3.1. Building Social Capital Among Youth In Care (2015)
6.3.1.1. - Provides statistics on the profiles of youth aging out of care inclusive of school grade, family background and sexual orientation etc. - Risks to social capital include moving house, living without adults, poverty, victimization, physical health conditions and disabilities, mental health challenges, self-harm and suicidality - Sources of social capital include family social capital, community social capital, employment, school social capital, peer social capital - An analysis of the relationship between health outcomes and improved social capital Any home share model should consider the supports even more than the matching. The supports could be of a wide variety and should be determines by the specific needs of the person being housed.
6.4. Transition Strategy
6.4.1. When youth age out of care: where to from there? (2007)
6.4.1.1. - This three year longitudinal study examines the developmental trajectories of some youth from care, examines how policies and programs can affect successful transitions and strategies to provide better support during their transition from care. There are growing numbers of young adults living at home into their 30s. Leaving care is more of an expulsion than a transition. - Less than half were involved in community based or extra-curricular activities. Best things about leaving care the participants said were autonomy and absence of surveillance and controlling aspects of life in care. The worst things were financial hardship, loss of supportive people in participants’ life, difficulties accessing resources and programs. Personal traits that participants reported to have made a difference include having people skills, resilient and determined to succeed, learn from mistakes and not being lazy. - Youth should be considered ready to transition out of care when youth are connected with an adults who is committed to offering long-term supportive relationship, affordable housing, high school diploma, goals mapped out for further education or training, proper ID, and connected with appropriate health and mental health services.