Person who is homeless holding a cardboard sign that reads 'you can make a difference'

Homelessness Action Week

Each year in mid-October, we join communities and organizations throughout the region to mark Homelessness Action Week.

Homelessness Action Week grants

Community and grassroots events and projects are an important part of Homelessness Action Week.

We provide grants to non-profit organizations to host events and organize projects related to Homelessness Action Week that:

Help Vancouver residents who are homeless
Create awareness of homelessness
Engage citizens on solutions to homelessness

Learn more about Homelessness Action Week grants

What the week is about

The week’s purpose is to raise public awareness on issues of homelessness and rally local solutions.

Homelessness Action Week is organized by the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Council of Community Homelessness Tables. The council is a coalition of community organizations and all levels of government

Learn about the Committee's work on homelessness External website

Events and initiatives

We are a proud participant in Homelessness Action Week, and support events and initiatives during the week and over the year, including:

Homeless Connect events, where attendees can get everything from health care assistance to bike repairs to a nutritious meal
Events hosted by local non-profit organizations

The City’s Homelessness Action Week (HAW) Grant program, established in 2009, supports a variety of community-led positive and engaging initiatives and events that take place in Vancouver during HAW and throughout the year.

Grant funds contribute to uniting Vancouverites in a common goal to raise awareness about and create solutions to the issues of homelessness and to support organizations providing direct services to homeless individuals.

On June 12, 2019, City Council approved fourteen HAW Grants.

View the staff report on HAW grants (168 KB)

Organization	Project
Atira Women's Resource Society	Housing Starter Kits for Women Preparation of 20 housing starter kits for women at risk of homelessness moving from shelters or transitional housing into independent housing, a daunting emotional and financial task. The kits will ease the financial burden of moving, create a sense of home and help encourage women to maintain tenancies.
Circle of Eagles Lodge Society	Anderson Lodge Homeless Action Day – Bannock and Stew on the Run During HAW in October, Anderson Lodge residents and staff will prepare stew and bannock for 600 people, to be served along with 300 care kits over two days to homeless and those at risk in the DTES and other parts of Vancouver. Through this project, Lodge residents will have an opportunity to ‘give back’ to the community. Anderson Lodge is a communal residential facility for homeless, or at risk Aboriginal women, and women on conditional releases from correctional facilities.
Collingwood Neighborhood House Society	Healthy Feet in Collingwood The CNH Morning Star Breakfast Program serves 50-70 homeless or at-risk individuals each week, with a hot meal, shower, and underwear program. The project will integrate foot care to breakfast program participants bi-weekly on Saturday mornings from Oct 2019-Sept 2020. The foot care program will be a connection point for homeless individuals to the Health Care providers.
DTES Neighbourhood House Society	Alley Health Fair 2019 A street “homeless connect” festival in Sept 2019 that brings together 40+ service providers in the DTES to promote health and wellness and to educate participants about available local services. Partnerships include Street Nurses, Vancouver Infections Disease Centre, WISH Map Van, Women’s health collective, Watari Food Service, VCC Nursing, and AHF Steering Committee. Target population includes people who are homeless or under-housed and living in poverty with limited access to health care providers.
Gordon Neighbourhood House	Gordon House Homeless Action Week One-day event focused on providing direct service to homeless individuals in the West End, including haircuts, naloxone training and kits, meals, clothing, hygiene items. The event has two main objectives, providing useful supplies and resources to community members facing homelessness, and secondly to promote awareness and de-stigmatization of homelessness and addiction amongst West End community members.
Little Mountain Neighborhood House Society (LMNH)	Meet us at the tə cecəw (The Beach) Tied in with the grant from previous year, the project targets the continued integration of new TMH tenants with the neighbourhood through community BBQs, bi-weekly garden and community check ins at resident garden and Riley Park community garden . LMNH will work in to conjunction with TMH residents and staff, City Heights’ tenants, LMNH and 3 other community agencies to engage residents of social housing and neighbours.
Mount Pleasant Neighborhood House (MPNH)	Housing Justice for All Campaign Coordinate and host three workshops on how to access temporary and permanent housing in partnership with community organizations; host three Housing Justice Community Circles; and host a Housing Justice town hall, providing meals and care packages for 140 community members experienced with, or experiencing homelessness. In hosting these workshops and forums, MPNH will connect individuals with services providers, as well as continue work on intergenerational and intercultural dialogue on housing and homelessness to learn about housing justice while breaking down social barriers and discrimination, and building intergenerational and intercultural connections.
The Parish of St. Paul's Vancouver	Connecting the Ends In partnership with other churches and shelters in the downtown area, St. Paul’s Connect event will take place on Monday October 14, at First Baptist Church (Tuesday evening homeless shelter, and Emergency Response Shelter from November-March). The event will bring together many health related services, such as optometry, dental hygiene and hearing care, under one roof to make it easy for the homeless to access them. Food and toiletry/care kits will be provided.
Pedal Foundation (Pedal Society)	Pedals for the People Bike Clinics Pedals for the People Program would like to host eight bike repair clinics at various sites, including parks, and several supportive housing sites within Vancouver. Cycling offers a healthy mode of transportation, to access employment, personal support networks, or social services. Pedal Foundation operates three programs including Pedals for the People which provides free bikes, parts and repairs to people who face financial barriers to accessing modes of transportation.
Potluck Cafe Society	Hearty Meal Drive During the first and third weeks of November, the DTES Kitchen Tables’ Outreach Team will outreach to and distribute soup to homeless individuals waiting in ‘line-up’ emergency shelters, targeting newcomers to the DTES neighbourhood who may not be familiar with the free and low-income food systems in Vancouver. The project highlights the Outreach team’s sidewalk presence and peer approach and their expertise to reach community members who do not currently access DTES resources (e.g. drop in centres, Community kitchen programs, etc.).
Renfrew Collingwood Seniors Society	Building Community- Bridging Generations Based on the success of previous years, this intergenerational project involves Grade 4 students, ‘at risk’ high-school students, and seniors welcoming and supporting tenants of the Kingsway Continental Hotel. The project includes providing welcome packages for 5-10 new residents; hearty meals twice a year for 123 residents (246 meals); hats and mitts; holiday gifts; plant and garden supplies. The aims are to help residents feel welcomed, cared for and part of the community, and to help youth and seniors better understand homelessness issues.
Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society	HAW Community Connector Event Through a community Connect event, resembling a trade show of service providers and to be held during HAW, clients will be provided with connections to programs, services and housing information. Three breakout sessions/workshops will be offered on “Wellbriety”, “Identifying and Coping with Intergenerational Abuse” and “Nutrition Education”. For service providers, additional workshops will be given on “Effects of Residential School” and “Trauma- Informed Practice”. Workshops will be delivered in partnership with Nenqayni, a mobile wellness program. There will be a catered lunch, and distribution of hygiene bags to attendees.
DTES Women's Centre (DEWC) Association	Needs Assessment: Obtaining and Maintaining Housing for Hard-to-House Women in the DTES Project would focus on homelessness to determine the needs of women experiencing homeless or those at risk in terms of resources to support them in efforts to find and retain housing. There is considerable anecdotal information regarding the needs and situations of women experiencing homelessness, including knowledge that women live in precarious and “hidden homeless” situations. This project would formalize this information in form of a needs assessment by interviews with women of the community, producing a report on homelessness of women in the DTES, a segment of the population that has been identified as underreported in homeless counts.
South Vancouver Neighborhood House	South Vancouver Education to Change Project Based on the success of the 2018 HAW grant and the creation of the SVNH “Fraser Street Homeless Action Group” that was formed as a result, this project aims to develop a “South Vancouver Homeless Action Working Group” with service providers and local residents from five different neighbourhoods. As part of the grant a number of public awareness events will be organized. A training session for local business owners on how to communicate and support individuals that are experiencing homelessness in the community. The intent of the training session is to increase understanding of the factors that contribute to homelessness, with an emphasis on building understanding, compassion and empathy, and reduce assumptions and discrimination. The working group will create a print and digital resource booklet for free, these resources will be circulated to businesses and agencies in the area for distribution. Additionally, five “South Vancouver Education to Change” public awareness forums in five South Vancouver neighbourhoods, including one targeted for youths aged between 13-18, will be hosted, engaging those with lived experienced to speak at the forums. The educational forums will target local individuals and families in their community.

Homelessness Action Week