Who We Serve
The Home Sharing Support Society BC is a provincial organization that works collaboratively with a cross-section of the home sharing community including:
- Individuals
- Families
- Self-Advocates
- Home Sharing Providers
- Community Living Agencies
- Key Community Partners
- Funders
The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction (SDRP) focuses on providing British Columbians in need with a system of supports to help them achieve their social and economic potential. The Ministry funds Community Living British Columbia (CLBC), a Crown Corporation, to fund and monitor services for people with disabilities across the province, including home sharing arrangements. Home sharing arrangements account for about 25% of CLBC’s support and services for people with disabilities.
Image Source: Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia, based on descriptions of monitoring relationships in CLBC policies and procedures.
Our goal is to build positive relationships within home sharing community to support the sustainability of the home sharing model, other housing options, and co-design innovative solutions together to address complex issues.
Key Priorities
Mentorship, Support & Guidance
The HSSSBC will actively foster collaborations in the home sharing community locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. The aim is to advance the sustainability of the model and quality of life outcomes by supporting the development of peer networks, communities of practice and partnerships.
A key focus area is the promotion of cultural safety for Indigenous people across the home sharing community and building on a foundation of trust, respect and humility.
Best Practices & Evidenced Based Research
The HSSSBC will use and share the best evidence and data available. Using an evidenced based approach we will translate information into formats which are easy to read and understand, even for those who may not be experts for planning and decision making.
Training & Education
With a specific focus on home sharing we will increase the knowledge, skills, and abilities of individuals, their families, home sharing providers and coordinating agencies.
Sharing resources, tools and providing opportunities for learning and development, the HSSSBC will support consistency of practice.
Sustainability
By addressing the opportunities and challenges that exist now and in the future, the HSSSBC will support the sustainability of the home sharing model through continuous quality improvement.
Currently, the model faces real challenges related to rapid growth, housing availability, availability of the service in small urban centres and northern communities, increases in housing and living costs, and changing support needs over time. We will collaborate with partners in the home sharing community and disability sector to leverage opportunities and address challenges.
Shared Living
“Work is easy when it’s full of meaning and shared with others.”
Jared Brock
“The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go and not be questioned.”
Maya Angelou, poet & activist