Local solutions address local needs and issues best.

The Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI), the centerpiece of the National Homelessness Initiative, was launched in 1999 in an attempt to create a more integrated and inclusive approach to homelessness in Canada. Along with providing financial support to communities, the SCPI encourages them to work together with provincial, territorial and municipal governments and the private and voluntary sectors to strengthen existing capacity and develop new responses to homelessness. Communities are allocated a maximum funding level which must be matched from other community sources (i.e.: fundraising, local sponsors, etc.) and requires communities to explain how their activities will continue once SCPI funding ends. Projects funded support priority areas identified through a community planning process.

The SCPI aims to increase the availability and access to a range of services and facilities along the continuum from homelessness to self-sufficiency – emergency shelters - transitional/supportive housing – prevention.

The extension of the SCPI, totaling $258M over three years, builds on community successes since the implementation of the National Homelessness Initiative. Communities will review their progress to date, and ensure future investments target those areas which best support their homeless population.

Community Planning Process

In the first three years of the Initiative community plans were developed in 61 communities across the country. A key feature of the SCPI is the mobilization of the broader community to address homelessness. Communities undertake an analysis of assets and gaps, priorities are identified and funding decisions are made in support of these priorities. At the beginning of the SCPI a main priority for many communities was supporting emergency measures to respond to urgent needs of their homeless population. Ensuring that these basic needs were met was the first step to helping individuals achieve self-sufficiency. The SCPI enabled the creation or continuation of many local homelessness projects and programs. It was also instrumental in creating new and unique partnerships, increasing awareness of the issue and building community capacity to effectively address the issue.

Communities will review and update their community plans developed at the beginning of the Initiative. Involvement of all stakeholders and key groups at risk of homelessness (youth, Aboriginal people, people with mental illness, women with children) will continue. They will assess the progress made to date against their original plan and determine what further supports are needed to help homeless people and build on the strength of the partnerships which have been fostered. Communities will be encouraged to broaden their approach, to move beyond immediate emergency needs to transitional interventions to create more stable living environments for homeless people. A key focus of the community planning process will be the development of sustainable long-term strategies.