Making the Shift Youth Homelessness Demonstration Lab (MtS DEMS) is a collaborative project working to develop and test approaches to support the prevention of and facilitate sustainable exits from homelessness. It is a joint endeavour co-led by A Way Home Canada (AWHC) and the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH) with support from MaRS Centre for Impact Investing.

Some of the most exciting work we’re engaged in with the MtS DEMS projects is with the Endaayaang Housing First for Youth Project (HF4Y) in Hamilton, Ontario in partnership with Hamilton Regional Indian Centre (HRIC). The Endaayaang program aims to empower Indigenous youth by finding home – through building a strong identity whereby youth rewrite their own stories and identities through reconnection to culture.

Endaayaang draws on Martin Brokenleg’s Circle of Courage framework as a culturally appropriate framing of the HF4Y program model Core Principles. The Seven Grandfather Teachings are incorporated to reflect the underlying principles of client-centred case management. In case management, the program considers the challenges and barriers that Indigenous youth experience – some of these include their family history; intergenerational, cultural and historical trauma; and their own individualized experiences.

In this video, Sheryl Green from HRIC showcases how to use the Indigenous case management model developed by Endaayaang.