A Housing Continuum shows the range of housing types in a community. Those types
are described below, using County of Lambton definitions.
Housing outcomes rely on shared responsibility across the full continuum.

Homelessness

• Individuals who are unsheltered (sleeping rough), staying temporarily with others
  (couch surfing), staying in emergency shelters, or living in other forms of unstable
  or temporary accommodation

Emergency Shelter

• Short-term, temporary shelter that provides basic necessities such as a place to
  sleep, meals, and support services

Transitional Housing

• Temporary housing with supports that help individuals and families move from
  homelessness or housing instability toward permanent, independent living

Supportive Housing

• Permanent or long-term housing
• A combination of housing assistance (for example, rent-geared-to-income, rent supplements, group living) and support services (for example, counselling, life skills training, activities of daily living such as bathing or dressing, behaviour supports) to enable people to live as independently as possible in the community.
• Supportive housing is funded by the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services, and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Community Housing

• Also known as “Deeply Affordable” or “Rent-Geared-to-Income” (RGI) Housing
• Government-assisted housing that provides lower cost rental units to households with low-to-moderate incomes provided at 30% of tenants monthly household income
• Can include:
  • Public housing (owned directly or indirectly by service managers);
  • Not-for-profit and co-operative housing;
  • Rent supplement programs; and
  • Rural and native housing.
• Social Housing Providers are governed by the Housing Services Act, 2011 and are listed as designated housing providers under O. Reg 368/11.

Affordable Housing

• Housing for low-to-moderate-income households priced at or below the average market rent or selling price for comparable housing in a specific geographic area
• In Ontario, affordable rental housing is generally defined as housing units with rents at or below 80% of the Average Market Rents, based on geographical areas and classified by bedroom count, as determined annually in the CMHC Average Market Rent Survey or as determined by the Service Manager, based on available data, in areas where there is no information from the CMHC Average Market Rent Survey.

Market Housing

• Housing available for rent or for purchase at a price determined by the local market

Please see the printable PDF and Housing Continuum Image.

‘Housing First' is an approach to ending homelessness that focuses on quickly moving people experiencing homelessness into independent and permanent housing and then providing additional supports and services as needed. Housing First has been proven to:

• Increase housing stability,
• Improve quality of life,
• Improve health and addiction outcomes,
• Reduce involvement with police and the justice system,
• Reduce costs associated with the justice system and health expenditures, and
• Reduce hospitalization and emergency visits.

Principles of Housing First

1. Immediate access to permanent housing with no housing readiness requirements - This involves working with individuals and families to locate and secure permanent housing as quickly as possible.
2. Choice and self-determination – Individuals and families are provided choices in terms of housing options as well as the services they wish to access.
3. Recovery oriented - Housing First practice is not simply focused on meeting basic client needs, but on supporting recovery.
4. Individualized and client driven – A client-driven approach recognizes that individuals are unique, and so are their needs.
5. Community integration – This involves promoting services and relationships that promote community belonging in the neighbourhood where individuals and families reside.

Learn more about the Principles of Housing First through the Homeless Hub website.

The By-Name List (BNL) is a real-time, up to date list of known and consenting people experiencing homelessness in Lambton County.

The coordinated access system is the process by which individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or at-risk of homelessness are directed to community-level access points where trained workers use a common assessment tool to evaluate the individual or family's depth of need, prioritize them for housing support services and then help to match them to available housing focused interventions.

Why have a BNL?

• Knowing people by name is just one step in the Coordinated Access system.
• Helps to better understand the scope of homelessness.
• Gives a better idea of current progress, and what work still needs to be done to end homelessness in Lambton County.

Please see below BNL Video.

Coordinated Access is a system to help end homelessness.

• Matches homeless people to the right support, at the right time, based on local priorities.
• No wrong door – People can be linked to housing and supports from any service provider in the system.

Read more about coordinated access locally through Lambton County's Homelessness Services Coordinated Access System Process Guide.

Please view the accompanying graphics, for more information.