Poverty itself impacts the lives of the homeless – it takes its toll on an individual's physical and emotional health, standard of living and access to public institutions. Living in poverty imprisons people. It curtails their ability to preserve or improve their health and frequently increases risk behaviours. Health needs are neglected to meet the most basic needs for shelter and food.

Emergency Services
Between 85-95% of all mental health patients come through the Emergency Room at the Royal Jubilee Hospital
– the "only walk in site in the Capital Health Region for mental health clients". Many go to the ER because of an inability to access urgent assessment/ treatment services elsewhere.

• There is no facility to handle urgent mental health referrals and walk-ins. Such a facility should be able to provide services (emergency stabilization), referrals to other clinical sources and referrals for other services in the community including housing.
• There is no Crisis Stabilization Unit. This is a 24-hour co-ed, staffed, residential facility that provides short-term care to voluntary clients who require specialized services in the community but are not in need of hospitalization. A CSU could provide services for people with both mental health and substance misuse problems (Dual Diagnosis) in an integrated way. The target population would be clients with a psychiatric diagnosis (and/or substance misuse) who are experiencing a psychosocial crisis and are in need of short-term crisis intervention. Referrals would come through the Community Mental Health Service or the Mobile Crisis Service who would maintain responsibility for residential placement follow-up and care.
• The Mobile Crisis Service only operates from 13:00 hours to 24:00 hours.

• Lifeskills programs can provide an opportunity to start to learn how to interact with others in an appropriate, useful way, establish regular patterns of eating and sleeping, make meals, clean and take care of their belongings and their personal hygiene.
• For the person with substance misuse issues, the lack of supportive recovery services and facilities is acute. Such programs provide an opportunity to start to learn how to "live life and remain clean and sober". People are able to remain in their home community, see their own alcohol and drug counsellor and maintain contact with other supportive individuals in the community. They also have the opportunity to attend groups related to their substance misuse where they meet other supportive people and are able to integrate into the recovery community or, at the very least, develop friendships with people who have the same goals.
• Support services are especially critical for ex-institutional (prison) clients who have to orient themselves in the community. An example suggested was a program (possibly using Justice Institute students) to help released offenders become familiar with the community e.g. the welfare office, the police station where they need to check-in, etc. The longer periods of incarceration in Federal prisons makes re-integration into society very challenging. Upon release, it can be difficult to achieve or relearn daily lifeskills, especially for Aboriginals lacking self-esteem as a result of the stigma of prison and lack of past employment experiences.

"90% of the people coming out could be successful, if there was a team of people who could be there to help individuals get back on their feet, to let them know what resources are available, to introduce them to the community and to help them meet people in the community. If a person does not have any family, but was able to meet a group of volunteers it would open up opportunities for communication." (An ex-offender living successfully in the community)

Currently, the services available do not address the needs of the 19 to 24 year old age group, consequently they are overlooked; without support services geared to their needs they often associate with older adults who are chronically homeless, and as a result get entrenched in homelessness.

"I mean who are they kidding. I have been on the streets for four years, now that I’m twenty magically I’m supposed to change. I was expected to become healthy and independent in a short time without any help. Come on, I do drugs and I’ve seen things no one should. I’d get better faster if I could." John, aged 20

Outreach
For families in motels or on the street and for the people who are in a financial and/or housing crisis, the network of social services, financial aid and access to housing may be totally unfamiliar, confusing, frustrating, and inaccessible. Families in motels or people who are ‘couch surfing’ with friends and relations are the ‘invisible homeless’. There is no one agency that is responsible for ‘finding’ them, nor is there an obvious place to go for comprehensive assistance or guidance in accessing services and accommodation. Outreach and case management follow up is needed to ensure that people access the services they need and will feel comfortable using. Assistance may also be needed to help fill out forms and obtain necessary documentation.

Support for Motel Owners
Over the winter months, conscientious motel owners find themselves in the unpaid role of social service provider. In addition to outreach services for homeless motel guests, there is a gap in services for owners themselves. If an owner would like to provide a safe haven for homeless families and women, there is currently no assistance in identifying known drug dealers and substance misusers who also might want to stay in the motel. The owners cannot protect family guests without assistance.

Employment
Unemployment amongst the homeless is high – many have had only periodic work or none at all for years. Many left school before graduation and have few skills or training. For the homeless, it is also difficult to get clean and look presentable for job interviews and job attendance. Lack of an address and telephone for contact with employers is another obstacle.

Special Needs
A look at the continuum of services for homeless with special needs highlights a number of gaps.

• Most services are geared to persons 19 and older and/or are not geared to the differing developmental levels of youth.
• For people living with HIV/AIDS their current and changing health issues need to be recognized, and in some situations services (particularly housing) need to recognize gender issues.
• The downtown "hard to reach" population generally requires a different approach than ‘mainstream’ mental health clients. In many cases, there is resistance to service. They often do not respond to ‘mainstream’ clinical interventions or fit into ‘mainstream’ service alternatives (e.g. residential). Housing and other resources need to be developed specifically to meet their needs.
• People who are dually diagnosed are often "excluded" from services because the presence of one disorder is an "obstacle" to the successful treatment of another.[10] Fragmentation of care for dual diagnosis patients with substance misuse "has been identified as a major difficulty in the CHR mental health system".

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• One example of a gap relating to timing is the lack of support services on weekends for women and children living in motels. This is especially true for women who have experienced domestic violence. The stress and isolation of unsupportive motel accommodation can send the women and children back to an abusive partner. In addition it was noted earlier that there are timing gaps in the availability of seasonal motel accommodation.
• The long wait for housing through the waiting list process is well known. Thus, many people do not put their names on the list.
• The time taken to access a cheque or damage deposit through GAIN can sometimes mean the loss of an opportunity to secure housing.
• Timing can also be critical for youth wanting to leave sex trade. There is nowhere to go or no one to call, other than the police, in the middle of the night. Moreover, the beds are in the city where the pimp and friends also live.

  "When I was ready to leave the streets, it was 3:00 o’clock in the morning. I had had a bad date and I said enough. I didn’t know where to go, my friends took me in a cab to KEYS. I didn’t want to stay there. We went back downtown. My boyfriend promised to treat me better, get me more drugs. That was seven months ago, I’m still here." (Helen M. 16 years old)

• An additional aspect of timing is the time limits on the use of some services. If a person has taken several years to get into his or her current difficult situation, it may take more than thirty days, or any other specific time, to turn the situation around.

  "I’ve been through half a dozen residential treatment programs. Twenty-eight days in total (for treatment) is totally inadequate and not effective for most people. It wasn’t for me…I participated in a six-month treatment program that was much more effective (and provided) much more personal growth and understanding of who I am."

• Often there are wait times between detoxification, treatment and recovery programs because of long wait lists which can lead to clients giving up and going back to their old ways and environment. In this sense the gap generated could be met by community based supported transition programs. For many, the length of time provided in treatment or recovery programs is inadequate, and for Aboriginal persons facilities that are more lenient than existing centres in their requirement for a period of sobriety are an issue.

  "I wish there was more places in Victoria (for detox). When you need to quit, you need to quit right now! You need to quit at that time or else you’re just going to go out and use again. And then you’re back in the same scene. So there needs to be more places where you can just go there and they can let you in."

• Status First Nations people in the urban Aboriginal persons client group are sometimes faced with timing delays in accessing shelter, support and health services because of intergovernmental requirements which implicate Federal, Provincial and Band responsibilities. The complexities of Federal and Provincial funding arrangements aggravate the need in some cases, particularly when there is an inaccurate presumption that the reserve will pay. There is a need to "make sure this issue is addressed and to put in place a process to help people to overcome this problem". Culturally the international Canada/US border is an arbitrary one for the Coast Salish peoples but it can create problems, especially for those needing medical services.

• Timing causes a gap for ex-institutional (prison) clients from provincial jails trying to access shelter, as this is difficult to do ahead of release. Subsequently on release many have nowhere to go, ending up homeless. There is a particularly critical gap in timing when ex-offenders are released on the weekend and services are limited, as there can be a 72 hour period when there are gaps in services.[13]
• Lack of resources can affect the provision of services, limiting their hours of operation. For example, the Needle Exchange is not open until the afternoon – "In many instances, drug users have to wait over 16 hours before they have access to clean "works" from SOS."[14] There is no evening/night-time "generic" multi-service drop-in centre, including a sobering centre. While the evening hours during which the Swift St. Clinic is open have been recently expanded, there is still no weekend service.

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On occasion the process itself for finding shelter and support services is not easy and not all services are in readily accessible locations, further exacerbating the situation for the homeless. Both the interviews and focus groups emphasized the need for better coordinated and improved services in the downtown area, stressing the provision of a "continuum of services, that includes: a "full spectrum" of services in locations readily accessible to downtown residents.

• ‘Process’ usually starts with paper. Some people may have no identification: young people who have left home before reaching an age when people obtain identification; refugees or new Canadians who might have lost their papers and cannot afford the high fees to obtain copies; women who have fled abusive situations without their papers, among others. Many health services, some food banks, social assistance, housing, and many other services start with some form of paperwork requiring identification. Without it, people either cannot access services or must find specialized services for people without identification. Obtaining identification can, in itself, be a challenging first step to getting off the street.
• Process often involves classifying people. In addition to the challenges of those with dual diagnosis, there are other people who are not ‘diagnosed’ with anything, but who are unable to function without support. They may lose their housing. If they have children, they may lose their children. They are not ‘disabled’, but they are not able to be completely self sufficient, either.
• Some of the gaps that frustrate attempts at finding shelter include the lack of a one-stop registration for housing wait lists. People are required to visit each agency to register for the waiting list. To stay on the list, one must fax or mail updated information on a regular basis to each agency. Without transportation and with children in tow this gap imposes hardship. For women with children a child minding service while they search for housing and use other services would facilitate the process.
• In a similar vein, the process for applying for welfare in the City of Victoria is non-supportive. While the shelters and services for the homeless are concentrated in the downtown area, not everyone is aware that there is a welfare office in downtown Victoria. There are in fact several specialized income assistance offices in Victoria, however it is not always clear which office one should go to. Several of the services are located in Saanich and in other areas outside of the downtown core. Accessing the appropriate service involves determining where the office is and taking transportation, which may be difficult if one is not familiar with the community. In addition, for those lacking lifeskills, or coping with mental health and literacy problems the difficulties are further compounded and assistance should be available at the Welfare office, as it is extremely difficult for some people to complete forms.
• Interviews and the focus group participants emphasized the need for better coordinated and improved services in the downtown area, stressing the provision of a "continuum of services, that includes: a ‘full spectrum’ of services in locations readily accessible to downtown residents". Examples include the following gaps.
• The lack of integration in the management of adolescent and child mental health. For older youth this means that their only route for routine hospital admission is to be sent to emergency. There is a need for a late adolescent (17 and 18 year-olds) program.
• Another example of a gap is the lack of a provincial or regional funding program that addresses both the health/support and housing needs of substance misusers, persons with mental illness, or both. Subsidies for housing are provided through housing programs. Subsidies or full payment for support services are provided through health authorities. Most of these client groups have needs in both areas. If a client does obtain subsidized or affordable market housing, if there is not sufficient support, they might lose their housing. If one is evicted ‘for cause’ from a subsidized housing unit, one cannot obtain another subsidized unit immediately thereafter. If evicted from an affordable market unit, one would not have the landlord reference needed to obtain other housing. One is then left searching for substandard accommodation where no questions are asked, an environment where stability, control or recovery are less likely. Thus, a housing subsidy without support services may not be a lasting solution.
• Similar referral gaps exist with respect to better case management, follow-up and referral, combined with coordination between service agencies. Integrated assertive case management would: ensure access to a comprehensive continuum of care; allow adoption of a client centered approach; involve all relevant disciplines, agencies and individuals, including users; and, take into account differing philosophical perspectives. ‘Assertive Case Management’, ‘Comprehensive Case Management’, ‘Integrated Case Management’ are phrases used by several agency representatives to describe what is needed in order for to people's needs to be assessed, for services to be obtained and for supportive follow up to be provided for a sufficient length of time.
• People who are dually diagnosed often are "excluded" from services because the presence of one disorder is an "obstacle" to the successful treatment of another.[15] Fragmentation of care for dual diagnosis patients with substance misuse "has been identified as a major difficulty in the CHR mental health system". The interviews, focus group, and current documents all identified gaps in the treatment of dual diagnosis.
• Access to methadone is presently limited by the number of physicians who are licensed to prescribe it, by the number of community-based pharmacies that dispense it and the locations of these pharmacies. Access is also dependent on the relationship that the drug user has with the pharmacist. For those who are unable to pay up front and do not have an established relationship, finding a pharmacy willing to dispense is difficult.

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The above comment summarizes succinctly the situation in Victoria. Compared with many communities Victoria has a strong base of community collaboration, but there are gaps and room for strengthening the solidarity of cooperation.

At the provincial level, Shelter Net BC is moving to strengthen collaboration. It is a fledging organization whose goal is to coordinate and support shelters/hostels throughout the Province advocating on behalf of shelters/hostels to enhance services to homeless people. Shelter Net BC aims to become a resource for shelters/networks and to assist them to develop best practices and an accreditation process.

Looking at the community level, agencies in Victoria providing basic services - shelter, hygiene and food – cooperate and refer clients to one another when they are full or provide clients with funds or tickets for other agencies’ services. One agency provides a guidebook for essential services in the downtown area. Where it gets difficult is in regard to support services, clinical services and specialized services.

It was evident from the focus groups that participants wanted to network and learn from one another. More collaborative partnerships and information sharing between agencies would help to open up possibilities and stretch resources to provide supportive services. This would include more coordination between workers. As a counterpoint to this it is evident that the demand exists but the supply of shelter and support services is unable to meet the demand. This may make some workers reticent to strengthen networks and in turn referrals when they know the need cannot be met, such as might be the case with referrals to housing agencies with long waiting lists.

"There are far too many service transitions and insufficient coordination. Youth do not have time to develop working relationship with a provider before the youth is discharged or worker leaves." Frontline Youth Worker

It was noted by focus group participants that, "the substance treatment systems have different philosophies and many of the groups overlap but the services do not, and this is one of the hardest things with which the clients have to deal." Many treatment programs require clients to be abstinent. Yet, relapse is a "normal" part of the process of trying to overcome substance misuse. Systems that operate from differing and sometimes diametrically opposed philosophical perspectives hamper the provision of comprehensive and consistent care, treatment and support to substance misuers.

In the area of mental health/forensics there is recognition of the need for cooperation and collaboration to work towards a proactive strategy to reach out to the street community in a proactive manner and correct the gap of a lack of an inclusive program planning process.

There are a number of key support agencies that are run solely by volunteers. For example, there is a lack of funding for support services for Aboriginal ex-offenders, and all services provided are volunteer based. To avoid burn-out, volunteer based organizations need supportive networks to sustain them and help with organizational development. This is both in terms of continuing to provide the service and obtaining funding.

Service provider burnout is common. Overwork, lack of funding, marginalization from mainstream care providers are all contributing factors, but working closely with people on the street can be a disheartening experience.

" … when you actually see what they live, that's hard on the heart."

"A lot of people that survive in this business as long as I have, have built walls for protection around themselves and those walls have hindered them…They have inhibited us for getting people the help they need."(Frontline worker)

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Requests for information on client data, usage of services, etc. met with positive reaction and a tentative commitment to provide it. Reality was that in many cases the follow through was not there, possibly because front line workers are reacting to client requests and needs, and data collection is lower priority. There are significant data gaps in many areas and for many reasons.

In regard to families using motels and other forms of ‘invisible homelessness’ there is literally no data. Obviously a private business is not going to inquire about a motel guest's housing status. The same would hold true for campgrounds and other temporary accommodations. How does one count people who are temporarily lodged in a friend's living room? This data only appears on the BC Housing waiting list. That data refers only to people who have applied for housing with that agency. When social assistance is involved, the expenses for temporary shelter is coded the same way as other types of shelter and thus cannot be accessed from accounting records. Because of this, it is also unknown what other costs might be attributed to homelessness.

In addition, there are (relatively small) groups of people who remain uncounted quite intentionally: youth who have run away and want to stay unknown; women who have been stalked and/or threatened and must remain bureaucratically invisible; offenders and others who wish to remain anonymous.

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The overwhelming scale and complexity of homelessness is readily apparent. Working with limited resources, the challenge is to rationalize the most effective application of funding and community capacity. The six themes discussed in this paper are offered as guidelines for establishing priorities. Overlying the themes are issues related to service approach and philosophies, jurisdictional controls and supply, among others.

First and foremost is the basic need for safe and affordable shelter and, within this theme, quick access to "safe places". For some the shelter need is for transitional and second stage housing. For others it may require a sensitive resource centre to orient the homeless within the community and assist in finding shelter.

Beyond the need for shelter, homeless people also have the basic needs everyone does for food, clothing, hygiene, medical services, contacts for social communication and respect. Some require support services for special health needs, to help them adjust to society (e.g. finding employment and developing lifeskills). In Victoria, there are substantive gaps in programs and services.

This paper identifies gaps in timing and process, both of which serve to frustrate the homeless. In some instances, to be eliminated these gaps require funding, in other cases they may require collaboration and networking.

Given their history of involvement in dealing with homelessness and the recent CRUNCH initiative, agencies in Victoria are in a stronger position than in most communities to collaboratively strengthen the supportive network across the agencies and reduce gaps in this area. Especially critical is the gap in supporting the volunteer based organizations that are overstretched and are vulnerable to burn-out.

The final theme discussed is the huge gap in data collection and the dilemma this poses for requesting and justifying funding allocations, when need levels go unidentified.

We have gained a perception of the magnitude of homelessness in Victoria and the gaps in the asset base. The results of this report will allow the Community Plan to move the process forward.

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• analysis of the Asset and Gaps report;
• knowledge possessed by the Steering Committee members;
• input from community stakeholders; and
• focus groups/interviews with identified target populations (women and children, youth at risk, sexually exploited youth, young adults, newly poor, substance misusers, people with mental health issues, urban aboriginal people and ex-offenders).

After a thorough analysis of all of the findings, recurring themes evolved. The Steering Committee further defined the themes into four priority areas, listed here in descending order of importance.

1. Safe, Affordable Housing

   Issue:
   There is not enough safe, affordable and suitable housing in Victoria.

   Response:
   a)Increase the minimum barrier emergency shelter beds that can be responsive to the unique needs of all groups including urban aboriginal persons, women and children and youth.
   b)Increase the transitional, supportive and second stage housing to meet the needs of the targeted populations by:

   • Creating partnerships to develop new affordable housing. Potential partners include all levels of government, the private sector, non-profit housing societies, and community-based organizations.
   • Creating partnerships and support for current housing.
   Ongoing Sustainability:
   • Encourage the provincial government to continue to maintain and expand its social housing supply program.
   • Encourage the federal government to establish a national social and affordable housing supply program.

2. Enhanced Support Services

   Issue:
   While Victoria does have a good foundation of dedicated support services for homeless people, the demand for services is greater then the existing supply. The existing service delivery supply is overloaded and service providers are stretched to their maximum capacity.

   Response:
   a) Coordinate and strengthen outreach services to meet person's basic daily needs (food, hygiene, clothing, social supports).
   b) Develop a Crisis Stabilization Unit (staffed 24/7, residential facility that provides short-term care to voluntary clients who require specialized services in the community but are not in need of hospitalization).
   c) Increase support services and improve access to health and dental care for target populations especially persons with mental health issues and persons living with HIV/AIDS.
   d) Strengthen, increase and coordinate life skill programs for ex-offenders and youth.
   e) Increase preventative services such as providing parenting education, community advocacy work aimed at addressing housing and poverty issues.
   f) Develop a coordinated housing registry service.
   g) Develop storage facilities for homeless persons to house their personal belongings.
   h) Encourage and support training and mentoring opportunities for those working with homeless people

   Ongoing Sustainability:

   • Encourage the provincial government to maintain and expand its community support services.
   • Encourage and create partnerships in the community for the purposes of ongoing sustainability as well as to ensure the efficient use of existing services.

3. Coordination and Communication

   Issue:
   Although Victoria has a strong base of community collaboration amongst service providers, there are gaps and room for strengthening the solidarity of cooperation.

   Response:
   a) Support collaborative partnerships and information sharing between agencies.
   b) Coordinate the discharge process between mental health care/correctional facilities and agencies for patients/ex-offenders to ensure access to timely support services.
   c) Develop communication and education strategies to publicize the availability of community resources for homeless people.
   d) Develop case management tools so that individuals can benefit from the full continuum of supports.

4. Capacity

   Issue:
   Gaps and insufficient capacity characterize the continuum of supports for homeless people or those at risk of becoming homeless in Victoria.

   Response:
   a) Determine the number of people who are homeless and at risk of homelessness, their characteristics and indicators of need.
   b) Enhance and support service providers and volunteer-based agencies that assist homeless people.
   

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The members of the Victoria Steering Committee on Homelessness believe all levels of government and community should be engaged in the long term funding, planning and coordination of supports for the homeless. The root causes of homelessness, the issues of those directly affected, and the after–affects of those recovering from it are so broad and diverse that no one agency or government can excuse itself from a long term engagement on these important issues.

The creation of capacity within communities to address these complex issues is an important one and is welcomed in Victoria. This plan documents and confirms an emerging consensus on the commitment and allocation of resources in the region. The plan builds on the work and efforts of previous achievements and encourages emerging initiatives.

The committee foresees that the Victoria Plan will identify many short-term interventions such as workshops, communication strategies and research activities that may be housed within existing organizations and therefore may not require a long-term sustainability strategy. These projects will serve to help the community meet immediate needs, while developing a better understanding of successful approaches to dealing with the issues involved. Activities of this nature will be taken over by the community and will have integral sustainability without requiring ongoing funding.

It is recognized that major projects such as new physical structures, supported housing and new shelters cannot service the community if they are not established on a solid foundation. Projects of this nature will require a firm sustainability plan as part of the developmental process of this initiative. Project proponents, working closely with the community and government will be required to develop plans for the long-term operation of such facilities.

To date, representatives from all three levels of government have engaged with the steering committee on the issue of homelessness and are committed to working within existing programs and budgets to address issues wherever possible. In particular, the Federal Government plays a dual role, by its direct funding of programs through departments such as HRDC, CMHC and Health Canada as well as through fiscal transfers to the Provinces which fund the majority of social services.

The Victoria Plan is a living document that will be reviewed and changed to meet the emerging needs of the community. The committee promotes an opportunity to support short-term solutions while the community works on the capacity for long-term solutions. The process allows for increased awareness and participation of the public and private sectors and is intended to engage the general public in seeking solutions. Plan proponents hope to build support for proactive, preventative initiatives and expand opportunities that will help to build awareness of issues regarding homelessness.

The overall measures of success of the plan include secured future funding, ongoing participation, decreased demand for services and flexible response activities.

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The Steering Committee recommends adoption of an evaluation plan that is based on a "participatory evaluation" model. This model is recognized by professional evaluators as an approach that helps to build local evaluation capacity, expertise and buy-in by helping communities learn to self-evaluate projects through evaluation. This approach places as much emphasis on the process as on the final product and is in keeping with the CRUNCH priorities. The purpose of the evaluation is not only to fulfil a government requirement for accountability but also to develop the capacity of stakeholders to assess their environment and take action.

In support and recognition of the importance of evaluation, the committee intends on doing the following over the course of the SCPI initiative:

• Set performance indicators and evaluate the Homelessness Steering Committee activities over the next two years. A performance indicator workshop will be held in September 2001.
• Evaluation results will be included in the committee's annual reports and will serve to amend the community plan accordingly. Short formative evaluations of the wider community homelessness effort will provide the basis for the annual reporting of the community plan. These evaluations will be incorporated into the annual report. The first formative evaluation will be completed by September 2002.
• Develop a communications strategy to ensure that there is broad understanding about this evaluative process by service providers and stakeholders in the community.

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A communication working group, comprised of steering committee members, has come together to develop this communication strategy for the community plan. This strategy is a work in progress and includes a detailed Communication Framework as outlined below. The plan will be communicated to key community stakeholders, allied partners, media and the general public through many forums (public meetings, focus groups, media), etc. The Steering Committee will facilitate the distribution of the Plan to key community stakeholders and will make copies of the Plan available to the general community.

In terms of project funding decisions, the Steering Committee has an open and transparent process whereby interested community stakeholders apply for funding through an ‘Expression of Interest’ (EOI) call for proposals. In order to encourage information sharing and a response from many sectors in the community, advertisements will be placed in local papers and information bulletins strategically posted throughout the community in early September 2001. An applicant workshop to answer questions around the EOI process will be conducted on September 11, 2001. Once proposals have been received, the Steering Committee will make recommendations to HRDC on which projects best meet the needs and priorities as outlined in the Plan. HRDC will then undertake the formal approval and contracting process. The Steering Committee has developed conflict of interest guidelines to ensure the process is fair and equitable. Once approved by the Minister, successful applications will be posted on the City of Victoria website.

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To create/elevate understanding of a), b), c), d) and to gain support for c).

Note: Separate Communication Plans will be required for each purpose.

Background:
Point Form list of salient facts about:

• the steering committee & actions taken since its formation i.e. urgent need proposal call in January, 2001
• the community plan
• community assets and gaps

Audiences:

• City of Victoria - Mayor and Council, MLA's and MP
• human service providers in Victoria
• steering committee sectors (churches, community centre network, business, Victoria housing providers, Victoria Native Friendship Centres, Community Economic Development Corporation)
• development industry
• media (TV, radio and print)

Key Messages:

• need 3-5 succinct statements that are positioning statements that we want our stakeholders to know/remember
• state the benefits of our project or program

• should support each of the objectives
• should have us communicate directly with our stakeholders
• should address the vulnerabilities identified

Communication Tools:

• e.g. fact sheets, poster, email notes, news release, call for proposals

• What are the human and financial resources required to implement this plan?
• quantify financial costs
• estimate human resource time commitment in terms of hours or days

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Funding, in-kind contributions and partnerships will actively be sought from all sectors including the three levels of government (departments such as Health Canada, DIAND, CMHC, Correctional Services of Canada, Province of BC, City of Victoria), health authorities, the business sector, non-profit sector, the faith community and labour.

The Victoria Steering Committee on Homelessness – Participants
The Victoria Steering Committee on Homelessness prepared this plan through a broad-based consultation process. Members of the Steering Committee overseeing the planning process were:

• Andrew Lane - HRDC Victoria, Committee Co-Chair
• Chris Coleman - Private Sector, Committee Co-Chair
• Jane Dewing - Victoria Housing Providers
• Dean Fortin - Directors of Community Centres
• Vanessa Hammond - CEDCO
• Colleen Kasting - Social Planning & Housing Advisory Committee
• Marlyna Los - Downtown Group
• Jean McCrae - Inter-Cultural Association
• Bruce Parisian - Victoria Native Friendship Centre
• Chris Poirier-Skelton - United Way
• Mabel Jean Rawlins-Brannan - Community Social Planning Council
• Dennis Suwala - Capital Health Region
• Tom Siems - CMHC
• Christine Warne - Urban Development Institute
• Wendy Zink - City of Victoria
• Linda Ross - M’Akola Housing
• Leelane Asher - Ministry of Human Resources
• Loralee Judge - PEERS
• Danella Parks - BC Housing
• Mike Waters - City of Victoria
• Pat Caporale - Homebuilders Association
• Wendy Cheney - HRDC Homelessness and Urban Partnerships

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