NHS Solutions Lab – House of Friendship: Beyond shelter | CMHC

This NHS project profile, hosted by the CMHC, presents the goals of the Solutions Lab “Beyond Shelter,” led by House of Friendship, which aims to reimagine a community-wide, holistic approach to serving people experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region, Ontario. The Lab addresses the opioid crisis, housing shortages, and fragmented health and social services through human-centred design, testing innovations at both the service and systems level.
Project team and/or partners: House of Friendship (project team); Overlap Associates (innovation consultant); Inner City Health Alliance, Region of Waterloo, YWCA Cambridge Shelter Corporation, Lutherwood, Grand River Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, Brock Solutions, KW4 Ontario Health Team.
Topics include National Housing Strategy, homelessness, emergency shelter, health and social services, housing first, and systems innovation.