Repairing the Holes in the Net: Research Summary

Repairing the Holes in the Net was a two-year research and system change initiative to improve policy and practice related to care and support for northern women experiencing homelessness, mental health and substance use concerns (and their children). In each of the capital cities of Canada’s three northern territories - Whitehorse, Yellowknife, and Iqaluit - a group of researchers, health care and social service providers, community advocates, and policy makers met monthly to share, learn and collaborate. This booklet describes how the project participants (who came from diverse government departments and service agencies and included sectors such as addictions, mental health, primary health care, justice, housing, police, income support, child protection, shelters and women’s advocacy) worked to find ways to understand the complexity of homelessness and make shifts in whole systems of service delivery as well as in the way that individuals worked within those systems.