Developmental Evaluation of Eva’s Youth Belong Program

Eva’s YOUth Belong, developed in partnership with the City of Toronto and Raising the Roof,is an independent living program for Black youth experiencing homelessness or precarious living. The program centres the identity and intersectionality of Black youth and houses young people in community-based, shared housing, and properties across the city. YOUthBelong currently has two housing streams: (1) shared housing and (2) private rental accommodation (Bursary Program). In the shared housing stream, Eva’s manages an apartment building that has the capacity to house up to 15 young people. Additionally, Eva’s in partnership with Raising the Roof has capacity to house 5 young people at an all-fe-male-identifying house. Staff are available onsite at both locations. In the private rental accommodation stream, youth have their own private rental units in the community.

Eva’s contracted Hub Solutions, a social enterprise embedded within the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH), to conduct a developmental evaluation of the YOUth Belong program. The evaluation centred around successes and challenges with the different housing components, assessing the cultural responsiveness of programming and services, and understanding how the program is unique.

Publication Date: 
2022
Location: 
Toronto, Ontario, Canada