Housing and Homelessness
Everyone deserves a place to call home.
Without a roof over your head, it’s nearly impossible to take care of your mental health, stay focused at work, or plan for the future.
Homelessness is not a choice.
It often begins with circumstances beyond a young person’s control—family conflict, abuse, or unsafe living environments.
With your support, United Way East Ontario is helping at-risk youth with the wrap around support they need to thrive.
Housing and Homelessness
Everyone deserves a place to call home.
Without a roof over your head, it’s nearly impossible to take care of your mental health, stay focused at work, or plan for the future.
It’s even harder to find affordable, stable housing for those who are new to our country, youth forced to leave home, women fleeing violence, and many others struggling to make ends meet.
With your support, United Way East Ontario advocates for safe housing for everyone. Together, we can shut the door to chronic homelessness.
Expanded program for homeless ‘pulling youth out of dark places'
Natasha moved out of her Nova Scotia family home at 16. She couch-surfed for a long time and lived with her sister for a while but says she always struggled to find a consistent housing situation of her own.
Natasha eventually moved to Renfrew County, and while managing serious mental health concerns, soon found herself living in a shelter. She was in crisis.
Thanks to support from United Way East Ontario, Columbus House Pembroke recently expanded its programming to assist more youth in crisis who have complex needs.
“I’ve been able to step out of survival mode and plan for my future,” said Natasha.
Stop youth homelessness before it starts
No one chooses to be homeless. Yet thousands of young people in Ottawa and across our region don’t have a safe place to call home. Together, we can change that.
No young person chooses to be homeless.
Many factors can drive a young person to leave home: they may have had a difficult family life or have survived abuse. Young 2SLGBTQIA+ folks may experience discrimination for their sexuality or gender, and many young people in the child welfare system find themselves without support once they reach adulthood.
In rural communities, youth who are homeless often keep their situation a secret from teachers and neighbours, making the issue even more invisible: they sleep in cars, or couch surf with friends. When a young person experiences homelessness, they are more likely to drop out of school, which makes it harder to get a good job and gain financial independence. Many rural youth head to the city in search of services and jobs—leaving their social networks behind and forcing them to build brand new circles of support.
At United Way, we believe prevention is the solution. By equipping youth with social, emotional, and relational support, we can help them avoid homelessness
2,952
people in Ottawa were experiencing homelessness as of the city’s 2024 point-in-time count.
1 in 3
homeless young people in Canada identify as 2SLGBTQ+.
44%
of Indigenous Peoples who have faced homelessness first experienced it before the age of 18.
~60%
of youth who experience homelessness have been involved in the child welfare system.
How we help
United Way East Ontario works with partners across Prescott-Russell, Ottawa, Lanark County, and Renfrew County to get at the root of the issue and create long-term solutions that prevent and reduce youth homelessness. This not only shuts the door to chronic homelessness—it saves lives.
-
Family and Natural Supports
These programs focus on equipping youth with social, emotional, and relational supports to avoid homelessness. This includes counselling, communication and conflict management skills, and reconnecting and stabilizing estranged relationships.
-
Employment as empowerment
We power social enterprises that provide youth experiencing homelessness with a steady job and life coaching at the same time. This way, they’re prepared for the workforce and financial independence over the long term.
-
Meeting basic needs
Creating long-term solutions that prevent and reduce homelessness requires a community-wide response, it can’t be done by one person or organization alone. We convene working groups with youth at the table, and together, we advocate to increase affordable housing and resources for children, youth, and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
-
Making crisis more manageable
We invest in parent, child, and youth mental health and substance use counselling, information, and support. This includes leading project step: a community-wide initiative to ensure young people and their families have access to support, treatment, education, and prevention of harms related to substance and technology use.
What impact looks like
Safe, affordable housing is a human right. When we rally around the most vulnerable people in our communities, we make the quality of life better for everyone.
Your gift to United Way East Ontario will help those facing homelessness build more stable lives. Together, with the support of donors like you, we can help young people reach their full potential.
We take accountability seriously.
You should feel confident when supporting a charity, and we’re committed to full transparency, accountability, and cost-efficiency. We invest your gift in smart, strategic ways, to ultimately move the needle.
100% LOCAL IMPACT
Every donation is put to work in the community where it is raised to tackle the causes you care about.
TOP-RATED CANADIAN CHARITY
Charity Intelligence recognizes United Way East Ontario as one of Canada’s top-performing charities, receiving an “A” for results reporting and a “✔+” for financial transparency.
Learn more about United Way’s charity ratings and how your gift is managed here.
Need help?
If you or someone you know is seeking mental health help, here are some immediate resources you can use:
CALL 9-1-1
If you are experiencing an emergency, please call 9-1-1.
DISTRESS CENTRE OF OTTAWA AND REGION
24/7 access to a mental health support hub.
Visit dcottawa.on.ca
Call the Distress Line at 613-238-3311
Text 343-306-5550
211 EASTERN ONTARIO
Find community, social, government, and health services closest to you.
Visit 211ontario.ca or call 2-1-1
