A home for every Canadian
Reaching Home
Homelessness is one of the most devastating obstacles that an individual can face. The idea of not having a safe place to sleep every night, a roof over your head or a shelter from the unbearable heat and frigid nights that our communities face is something that most of us don’t ever have to think about.
But for more than 129,000 Canadians, that is a daily reality.
United Way Simcoe Muskoka administers the Government of Canada’s Reaching Home: Rural and Remote funding stream in rural and remote communities across Ontario, aiming to provide housing and supports for those experiencing homelessness or living rough.
Currently, United Way Simcoe Muskoka is supporting 30 active projects in rural and remote communities across the province aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness for those experiencing or at-imminent risk of homelessness. To learn more about the active projects funded through United Way Simcoe Muskoka, click here.
Reaching Home, offered through Infrastructure Canada, is part of the Government of Canada’s National Housing Strategy. It is a community-based program aimed to prevent homelessness and reduce chronic homelessness nationally by 50% by fiscal year 2027 to 2028.
Regional Advisory Board
To guide us in our efforts to prevent and reduce homelessness the Regional Advisory Board (RAB) serves as an advisory committee to understand, plan and co-ordinate activities that raise awareness of the complex issues surrounding homelessness in rural and remote areas of Ontario. Members possess in-depth knowledge of key sectors and systems that affect homelessness priorities.
Pictured above: staff with members of our Regional Advisory Board
Our 2022-2023 Impact
36
Projects funded
1,979
People were provided with housing support
“This month we were able to assist a woman in furnishing her new home. The client has acquired her unit in the middle of lockdown when non-essential items were not being sold. We were able to go above and beyond for her by purchasing all start-up items she would need for her new home. We were also able to access community resources that had just re-opened. With the help of St. Vincent De Paul, we were able to get the client a bed, futon, dresser and vanity. The client now has a furnished home and can begin enjoying it after a long year of searching for her own housing.”
41
New spaces created
“This month we housed a female client who resided at the shelter for over a year. She overcame many struggles including addiction, an abusive relationship and feeling helpless. Now this individual is housed in an all-women’s transitional housing unit, this facility was just recently built in our community. This facility has amazing programming that will help victims that have fled an abusive or violent relationship. Our client was ecstatic when she received the keys to her unit, and everything came together when all the furnishings were placed. Now she is no longer our in-house client, she transitioned to an outreach client, we now assist her with weekly food and bread bags as well as rides to appointments.”
For more information on other funding streams across Ontario including urban and Indigenous communities, click here to Find a Reaching Home contact for your community.
For Simcoe County, contact the County of Simcoe.
Want to learn more?
