Covenant House Vancouver

The Mental Health Commission of Canada is researching the effects of mental health and homelessness. Their current project “At Home/Chez Soi”, the largest research project of its kind in the world, is underway in five cities across Canada.

The At Home/Chez Soi website states “the project is based on a Housing First approach (The hypothesis is that once a person is given a place to live, he/she can then better concentrate on other personal issues.). A total of 2285 homeless people living with a mental illness will participate. 1,325 people from that group will be given a place to live, and will be offered services to assist them over the course of the initiative. The remaining participants will receive the regular services that are currently available in their cities.”

The Vancouver portion of the At Home/Chez Soi research project will focus on people with addictions and mental health issues. The property where the 4 years of research will be taking place is the Bosman Hotel Community. This building just recently reopened and has the capacity to house and support 100 people.

The At Home/Chez Soi project will undoubtedly uncover a lot of valuable information about homelessness and mental health. Covenant House Vancouver will be following this research and will keep you updated about any important findings. In the mean time it is reassuring to know that Vancouver and Canada supports finding better ways to work with those who are homeless and have mental health concerns.

For more information about this project the following papers have also published stories:
Vancouver Sun, The Province and The Vancouver Courier.