The City of Abbotsford became a designated Community Entity under the Government of Canada’s Reaching Home program in 2020. Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy is a community-based program aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness across Canada. As a designated Community Entity under the Reaching Home program, the City of Abbotsford has entered into an agreement with Housing, Infrastructure and Communities of Canada (HICC) to receive funding between 2020-2028.
As a Community Entity, the City of Abbotsford is responsible for the overall management of the Reaching Home Program, which includes all contractual obligations to Housing, Infrastructure and Communities of Canada (HICC), such as the management of finances and subproject contracts; reporting to HICC on CE and subproject deliverables; developing, creating and managing the Community Advisory Board (CAB); and working with the CAB to deliver the following programs and services:
- Work with the Community Advisory Board to:
- Develop and update the Community Plan, which identifies proposed priority directives and coordination opportunities as per contract with Canada.
- Develop and manage ongoing Call for Proposals and review process to allocate funding into the community.
- Establish a Coordinated Access and Assessment System for the Community.
- A Point-in-Time (PiT) count is a community-led effort that captures a 24-hour snapshot of homelessness. It calculates the number of individuals experiencing homelessness on a given night and collects survey information to better understand who is affected, the factors contributing to their situation, and the types of support and services they need.
In June 2020, the City of Abbotsford entered into an agreement with Housing, Infrastructure and Communities of Canada (HICC) to act as the Community Entity (CE) responsible for administering the Designated Communities Funding Stream of the Reaching Home Program, the Government of Canada’s homelessness strategy.
The Reaching Home Funding Table (RHFT), formerly the Community Advisory Board (CAB), supports the implementation of Reaching Home in Abbotsford. The RHFT is inclusive and representative of the community and supports community planning, the identification of local priorities, and the effective allocation of Reaching Home funding.
The RHFT reviews funding priorities and proposed projects and provides recommendations to the City of Abbotsford regarding projects to be funded through Reaching Home. Recommendations consider Reaching Home requirements, identified community needs, local priorities, and opportunities to strengthen the community’s response to homelessness.
The City of Abbotsford, as Community Entity, is responsible for the administration and implementation of Reaching Home in Abbotsford. City Council retains final authority for the approval of Reaching Home funding allocations.
Responsibilities
The RHFT is responsible for the following key areas:
- Assess and recommend projects for funding to the Community Entity.
- Being representative of the community.
Community Homelessness Reports
What is the Community Homelessness Report (CHR)?
The CHR is an annual Reaching Home reporting deliverable that supports communities to prevent and reduce homelessness using a more coordinated, systems-based and data-driven response. The CHR is designed to support local discussions and decision making, with a focus on the full picture of homelessness at the community level and the collective efforts of service providers working across the homeless-serving system to address it.
See the Reaching Home Directives for additional information.
The Community Plan, which identifies funding priorities to respond to local needs related to homelessness, was created by the CE and approved by the Community Advisory Board and Abbotsford City Council.
The Community Plan was directly informed by the Homelessness Action Plan , the City of Abbotsford Affordable Housing Strategy and Housing Needs Report, as well as the FVRD PIT Homelessness Count and the Community Data Book.
The Call for Proposals for Services and Capital projects closed in 2024. The recommended projects will run from April 1, 2024 - March 31, 2028.
For any questions, please contact reachinghome@abbotsford.ca
The following projects were awarded Reaching Home funding and will run until March 31, 2028.
- Raven's Moon Resource Society; Supportive Scattered-Site Housing; 2024-2028; $1,217,334 - This project will support individuals who are homeless or at risk of homelessness by providing housing, prevention supports, and comprehensive wraparound supports.
- CEDAR Outreach Society of BC; A Coordinated Response to Prevention and Diversion in Abbotsford; 2024-2028; $1,800,000 - This project will serve individuals that are at risk of homelessness or who have recently become homeless in Abbotsford with prevention, shelter diversion and wraparound client supports.
- Semá:th First Nation; Semá:th Healing Support Services; 2024-2028; $400,000 - This project will serve Indigenous individuals who are at risk of homelessness by providing housing, prevention, shelter diversion and wraparound client support services.
- Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) BC; Fraser Valley Rent Bank Prevention and Diversion Grants; 2024-2028; $755,00 - This project will serve individuals and families in Abbotsford, including women and children fleeing abuse, seniors, racialized and refugee populations, who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Prevention and diversion services will be provided in the form of grants for clients facing homelessness.
- MCC BC; Extreme Weather Coordination; 2024-2028; $484,600 - This project will coordinate the summer and winter extreme weather response programs in the Abbotsford region for homeless individuals. Extreme weather response supplies will be purchased, and a centralized hub will distribute the supplies.
- MCC BC; 2025-2027 Point-in-Time Homeless Counts Coordination and Facilitation; $90,000 - Project will work with the community to coordinate and facilitate the applicable activities, incentives, planning, events, and oversee both the enumeration and survey portion of the 2025, 2026, and 2027 Homeless Counts in Abbotsford.
- Ground Zero Ministries; Project off the Streets; 2024-2028; $201,000 - Project will assist homeless individuals seeking detox programs or treatment for addictions.
- Pacific Community Resource Society (PCRS); Indigenous Outreach Access Point; 2024-2028; $240,000 - Project aims to create an Indigenous Outreach Access Point to better support vulnerable Indigenous people facing homelessness in Abbotsford. The focus is to improve data quality and service coordination for Indigenous individuals and families. The project also supported encampment clean-up efforts in Abbotsford.
Coordinated Access System (CAS)
The Coordinated Access System (CAS) helps ensure individuals and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness can access housing and support services through a consistent, fair, and coordinated process. As part of the Alignment Project, CAS operates on a "no wrong door" approach, helping people connect with appropriate services and supports regardless of where they first seek assistance.
Through trained Access Points across the community, individuals are assessed using standardized tools and connected to available housing, rent supplements, support services, and other resources. This coordinated approach supports the shared goal of making homelessness in Abbotsford rare, brief, and one-time.
Key Components:
- HIFIS (Homeless Individuals & Families Information System): A secure database that supports coordinated service delivery, case management, housing referrals, and the use of community-level homelessness data.
- Access Points: Community locations or service providers, such as shelters, outreach teams, and prevention and diversion services, where people experiencing a housing crisis can connect with trained staff, access immediate supports and referrals, and participate in Coordinated Access.
- Common Triage and Assessment: A standardized process that identifies housing needs, strengths and circumstances to support case planning and prioritization.
- Provincial Standards: Common procedures and tools that support consistency across the province while allowing for local implementation that reflects Abbotsford’s needs.
- Systems Map and Resource Inventory: Tool that identifies local services and resources, including housing, subsidies, and supports available to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Local Leadership and Coordination
The City of Abbotsford, as the Community Entity for Reaching Home, works in partnership with BC Housing, community organizations, Indigenous partners, and other government and service partners to strengthen Abbotsford's coordinated response to homelessness.
Through local leadership, operational and working groups, partners collaborate on system planning, Coordinated Access, data quality and HIFIS, outreach and encampment response, Indigenous engagement, case coordination, housing and resource matching, and continuous system improvement.
This coordinated approach helps identify gaps and barriers, align local resources and services, and improve how people experiencing or at risk of homelessness connect with housing and supports.