Session 9
Yes, It Works: How Housing First for Youth Transforms Lives
All young people have a right to housing. Housing is a precondition for recovery.
Housing First for Youth (HF4Y) is a youth-focused adaptation of the well-established Housing First program used to address homelessness for adults. Housing First asserts that housing should not be contingent upon readiness or on ‘compliance’ (for instance, sobriety) because housing is a human right. Therefore, it challenges all of us to think differently about what it takes to meet people where they’re at and create long-term change.
We know it’s a bold approach to take, but we also know that it works.
To kick off 2025, January’s Prevention Matters! panel discussed new research demonstrating that young people are more successful in moving forward with their lives if they are first housed. Watch us and our partners, A Way Home Canada and Making the Shift, unpack evidence-based* insights on Housing First for Youth, its benefits and what our research has taught us about what it takes to prevent youth homelessness.
CLICK HERE to access the PowerPoint slides.
CLICK HERE to access a visual summary of the session.
Learn more about our host & panelists below.
HOST
STEPHEN GAETZ is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at York University, in Toronto Canada. He is the President of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and the Homeless Hub at York University as well as co-Director of Making the Shift – Youth Homelessness Social Innovation Lab and the United Nations Centre of Excellence on Youth Homelessness Prevention (Toronto). Dr. Gaetz works in collaboration with partners to conduct research and mobilize this knowledge so as to have a greater impact on solutions to homelessness, and in particular the prevention of homelessness. In 2017 Dr. Gaetz was awarded the Member of the Order of Canada.
PANELISTS
AHMAD BONAKDAR is the Senior Director of Research with the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH). In this role, Ahmad oversees all aspects of the Making the Shift Youth Homelessness Demonstration Projects (MtS DEMs), including methodological approaches and the implementation of long-term research strategies. He also guides site-specific research plans and leads the academic and public-facing outputs of research studies from MtS DEMs.
PA SALLAH DRAMMEH is a BioStatistician, Making the Shift Youth Homelessness Demonstration Projects, Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. In his position, Sallah utilizes his statistical expertise to conduct analyses and provide training to colleagues and students on quantitative data analysis and techniques. Sallah obtained a master’s degree in Biostatistics from McGill University’s Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health. His research interests revolve around the Statistical Design of Clinical Trials and the modelling of longitudinal data.
CORA MACDONALD is the Lead Researcher for the Housing First for Youth Demonstration Project with the Making the Shift Youth Homelessness Demonstration Lab (MtS DEMS). She holds a Master of Arts in Sociology from Carleton University and is working on completing her PhD. Her research interests include youth homelessness, community integration, Housing First, and knowledge mobilization. Prior to this role, Cora was the Project Manager at A Way Home Ottawa, where she was responsible for convening young people and community partners to establish a strategy for ending and preventing youth homelessness in Ottawa. In her free time, Cora enjoys listening to true crime podcasts.
HEIDI WALTER is a Program Design and Training Consultant at A Way Home Canada. Through her role, she has provided extensive hands-on coaching and training to community partners across Canada looking to establish FNS programs. Heidi is passionate about supporting youth and families to thrive, and uplifting the voices of young people.
*The evidence presented is based on research conducted in our Making the Shift Youth Homelessness Demonstration Lab, co-led with A Way Home Canada. To learn more about youth homelessness prevention, register for our upcoming International Conference on the Prevention of Youth Homelessness: https://preventhomelessness.ca/2025conference/
This session is part of our Making the Shift collective body of work on youth homelessness.
The Toronto Centre of Excellence (TCE) on Youth Homelessness Prevention at York University is a UN Geneva Charter Centre at York University led in partnership between the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, A Way Home Canada and our Making the Shift Youth Homelessness Innovation Lab.
