An Indigenous-led response to the crisis of Indigenous homelessness in Thunder Bay

Seeing how Indigenous homelessness within the city of Thunder Bay has become a growing phenomenon, this project provides the Matawa Chiefs Council (MCC) and the Matawa Non-Profit Housing Corporation with the capacity to develop solutions to the issue of Indigenous homelessness in Thunder Bay.

Homelessness is often mixed with complex social determinants of health, addictions, racism, historic trauma, or abuse. To take these aspects into consideration, the project aims to address the issue of Indigenous homelessness from an angle that respects the cultural value system of the communities in question.

It aims to find solutions to the problem, starting by providing a full-time Matawa Homelessness Policy Analyst for one or two years.

The project also uses an approach that considers the shared lived experience of systemic barriers due to colonization. The homeless and precariously housed will be directly involved in the project’s design and implementation.

The organization successfully completed the outreach reorganization in their region ensuring a larger number of community members will have access to services on a yearly basis.