The final report of Lookout’s Housing First Innovation Labs project is complete.

The Housing First Innovation Labs project was developed to create more opportunities for local stakeholders to network and cultivate inter-agency collaboration in support of a Housing First approach to homelessness in eight unique Metro Vancouver communities: Burnaby, Langley (including the City and Township), Maple Ridge (including Pitt Meadows), New Westminster, the North Shore (including the District and City of North Vancouver and West Vancouver), Richmond, Surrey and Vancouver.

Using a social innovation lab approach, this project employed systems and design thinking methods to addressing homelessness in each community. This approach was used to generate ideas about new ways to integrate services, address gaps, avoid duplication and encourage collaboration among diverse stakeholders. The labs were co-designed with the community to create open space for innovative problem solving, and convened Housing First providers (HPS and non-HPS funded), non-Housing First organizations, all levels of government, funders, health authorities, community partners and individuals with lived-experience.

In total, 196 community stakeholders participated in eight full-day sessions, and a further 230 community stakeholders participated in 12 follow-up workshops during the lab process.