Our mission is to end chronic homelessness. One of the most critical ways in which we achieve this mission is to provide housing and housing options for those experiencing homelessness in Edmonton.
There are three streams of housing options for those experiencing homelessness - shelter, transitional/flexible, and permanent. Boyle Street does not directly offer shelter spaces, although we advocate for better standards in the shelter system. We focus our efforts as an agency on experimenting and creating transitional and permanent housing options to fit our community members’ needs and connecting those we serve to permanent market housing. Examples include:
housing units for female-identifying people -- sakihta kikinaw - located in the historic Stovel Block building
units in east of downtown Edmonton for male-identifying people
homes for supporting youth
an independent living apartment building for youth
homes for children who are not able to be with their caregivers
hotel model accommodation supporting units in Edmonton’s core
unit apartments located on-site at King Thunderbird Centre, our upcoming new community centre
As you can see, Boyle Street is deeply committed to providing a variety of housing options across the city of Edmonton, and they each work in unique ways to serve different needs.
For example, sakihta kikinaw (Cree for “house of love”) provides flexible, low-income housing for female-identifying people as a safe place to stay for as long as they need before transitioning into long-term housing. Boyle Street provides programming and 24/7 on-site workers to help support residents.
Individual suites and a common kitchen space will allow residents to further develop a sense of community, confidence and self-worth as they work to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness.
sakihta kikinaw practices a new housing model that Boyle Street calls “flexible housing.” It gives community members a safe space to stay for as long as they need — from several months to several years — before transitioning into long-term housing.
