Art by: Carl Ray (1943 – 1979)
The idea of having a National Coordinator came up at a meeting of Indigenous service providers in the homelessness sector in late 2018.
The conversation continued in January 2019 at a Vancouver meeting, and the potential role of the National Coordinator was laid out.
Indigenous Community Entities (CEs), Indigenous Community Advisory Board (CAB) representatives, and Indigenous service providers in the homelessness sector across Canada wanted a way to stay connected, share information and begin to identify wise practices on a national scale.
The National Indigenous Homelessness Coordinator started in their role in November 2019.
Relationships
One of the main functions of the National Indigenous Homelessness Coordinator is to establish constructive and transparent relationships with Indigenous CEs and CABs in order to share information and updates, as well as support networking among the group. Right now, there are Indigenous service providers in the homelessness sector who are doing outstanding work in every province, and they need a way to be able to relay what’s working and what’s not working for them to other organizations who are doing similar work. The goal is to create a network, a circle, of Indigenous service providers so that we can strengthen our collective response to homelessness.
Onboarding CEs
Every year, more Indigenous organizations are taking on the role of Community Entity to administer the Indigenous Homelessness stream of Reaching Home, which is fantastic. This means more Indigenous organizations are administering Indigenous dollars. As new Indigenous service providers onboard, the Coordinator will be a resource to answer questions, liaise with ESDC, and connect them with other CEs and service providers who have longstanding experience with the program.
The Coordinator will facilitate a “buddy system” where onboarding CEs will be mentored by existing CEs in order to help distill the program directives, roles and responsibilities, and program functioning.
Indigenous Homelessness Forum
The Indigenous Forum is an important component of the work we do. It provides Indigenous CEs and CABs with an opportunity to meet in person, network, and share information. The Coordinator will work with ESDC to frame agenda items and ensure the forum is culturally appropriate.
Information Sharing
Because this is a national initiative and folks are spread out across the country, the Coordinator will arrange for calls or virtual meetings between Indigenous CEs and CABs to provide opportunities to share what’s going on locally and hear from others as well. Meetings can also be arranged with ESDC as requested to discuss policy and program issues related to Reaching Home (e.g., reporting, data collection, coordinated access).
Another big part of the Coordinator’s role is to communicate CE and CAB perspectives on the development of the Indigenous Homelessness stream to ESDC and report back on potential approaches, hurdles, and solutions. The Coordinator meets with ESDC representatives monthly in order to share information and receive updates.
You can download & view the National Indigenous Homelessness Coordinator’s work plan below.
Read the Roll-up report from the National Indigenous Homelessness Coordinator covering activities from November 2019 – May 2021:
The Indigenous Homelessness Circle 
Leave a comment