The Community Advisory Boards (CAB) and the Community Entities (CE) are the local organizing committees responsible for setting direction for addressing homelessness in their community or region as part of the Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) set up by the Government of Canada.
The role of the CABs is to:
- Review data and information to help inform priority setting and decision-making
- Establish priorities for the community (through a Community Plan in Designated Communities)
- Solicit & review proposals, make recommendations
- Identify matching and other funding sources
- Share information with the community about homelessness issues and progress achieved
- Consult with the broader community on an ongoing basis
- Partner for success
- Coordinate community efforts related to homelessness
- Integrate efforts with provincial or territorial ministries
Since 2012, CHRA has partnered with HPS and organized National Meetings where CABs and CEs from across Canada are given the opportunity to network and share sustainable information. These meetings contribute to local communities’ ability to prevent, reduce and end homelessness.
Building from the success of the first meeting in St. John’s Newfoundland, this one-off learning opportunity became a vehicle for sustainable collective learning and thought on systemic policies and practices that has since taken place in 2013 (Ottawa, Ontario) and 2015 (Winnipeg, Manitoba).