Coordinated Access

Service Providers

Cape Breton Community Housing Assocation

Emergency shelter, housing support

Contact Info

Location: 106 Townsend St
Phone: 902-539-0025
Email: communityhousing@cbcha.ca

What they do

CBCHA operates the main emergency shelter in CBRM. They provide safe overnight accommodation, daytime access, and crisis support for adults experiencing homelessness. Staff also assist guests with housing searches, income supports, and connection to other community services.

Who they serve

Adults experiencing homelessness in CBRM who need safe, temporary overnight shelter or help finding longer-term housing.

Services

Emergency shelter
Basic needs (meals, hygiene)
Crisis support
Housing support staff can help connect individuals with case management and community resources

System Role

Emergency shelter. Housing support. Often the first point of entry for people needing immediate shelter or referral to housing programs and supports.

Elizabeth Fry Society of Cape Breton

Justice-involved and at-risk women

Contact Info

Location: 235 Townsend St
Phone: 902-539-6165
Email: efrycb.com/contact-us.html

What they do

The Elizabeth Fry Society supports women and gender-diverse people impacted by the justice system. They provide transitional housing, court support, advocacy, and reintegration programs.

Who they serve

Women and gender-diverse individuals who are criminalized, at risk of criminalization, or experiencing systemic barriers such as poverty, homelessness, or trauma.

Services

Transitional housing
Court support and advocacy
Skill-building for community reintegration

System Role

Access point for justice-involved women. Bridge between justice system and transitional housing for women exiting incarceration or unstable housing.

Jane Paul Indigenous Resource Centre

Indigenous Women’s resource and drop-in centre

Contact Info

Location: 235 Townsend St
Phone: 902-539-5890

What they do

The Jane Paul Centre is a culturally safe resource centre for Indigenous women and their families. They provide food and clothing resources, cultural programming, and help connecting to housing, health, and justice services.

Who they serve

Indigenous women and their families living off-reserve in the CBRM.

Services

Cultural programming
Peer support and advocacy
Basic needs (food, clothing, hygiene)
Connection to housing, health, and justice supports

System Role

Access point for Indigenous women. Ensuring wrap-around services are provided in a culturally safe environment.

Every Woman's Centre

Women’s advocacy and support

Contact Info

Location: 21 Trinity Ave
Phone: 902-567-1212

What they do

The Every Woman’s Centre is an advocacy and support hub for women. They provide emergency food and clothing, personal care items, and help navigating income, housing, and safety resources.

Who they serve

Women and gender-diverse individuals in need of social support, particularly those experiencing poverty, violence, or housing insecurity.

Services

Referrals and advocacy
Poverty relieft
Emergency basic needs (food, clothing, personal items)
Free clothing depot and personal care program
Housing supports
Housing and income support navigation

System Role

Access point for all women. Navigator/referral services safely connecting women to essential services.

Ally Centre

Harm reduction, health outreach, housing support

Contact Info

Location: 75 Prince St
Phone: 902-567-1766
Email: allycentreofcapebreton.com/contact

What they do

The Ally Centre provides harm-reduction, outreach, and health supports for people who use substances or face housing instability. They operate the Pine Tree Park Village (emergency shelters) and Eleanor’s Court (harm reduction supportive housing) in partnership with New Dawn Enterprises.

Who they serve

Individuals who use drugs and/or or face barriers to traditional health care.

Services

Mobile Outreach Street Health (MOSH)
Harm reduction supplies
Safe consumption site
HIV/Hepatitis-C prevention and support
Housing navigation and advocacy

System Role

Harm reduction. Health promotion. Providing a low-barrier entry into the service system.

Abbey Ridge

Supportive housing for youth (16–24)

Contact Info

Locations: Glace Bay, Sydney
Phone: 902-322-9019
Email: abbeyridge@newdawn.ca

What they do

Abbey Ridge operates supportive housing for youth who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. They provide case management, life skills development, and support transitioning to independence.

Who they serve

Youth (aged 16–24) in need of safe, stable housing and wrap-around supports.

Services

Supportive housing with on-site staff
Case management
Life skills development and transition planning
Navigation/referrals to education, employment, and community supports

System Role

Access point for youth. Transitional and supportive housing for youth (16–24).

Data Collection and Management

A key function of Coordinated Access is ongoing data collection and management. Participating service providers collect information about the client’s current living situation and housing needs, and securely share it with other service providers within the Coordinated Access system in order to match the client with the most appropriate housing and support services.

The client’s information is securely stored in a database called HIFIS (Homeless Individuals and Families Information System) and is only used by participating service providers to help match the client with housing and support services.

Clients provide their information voluntarily.

If the client consents to the collection of their information, that consent is valid for 12 months as of the signing of the Common Consent Form, and the client may revoke their consent at any time.

Refusing to provide their information (or revoking their consent later) will not limit their access to emergency shelter. However, the information helps participating service providers match the client with the most appropriate housing and support services, therefore not providing their information may affect an organization’s ability to match the client with housing and support services, and may limit the client’s re-housing options.

The data tells us:

How many people entered homelessness for the first time.
How many people returned to homelessness.
How many people exited homelessness.
And whether housing resources were distributed equitably: the data helps the community be accountable to people experiencing homelessness.

This robust set of data points helps support coordinated service delivery for clients, as well as an understanding of key trends (inflows, outflows, and total active homelessness) at a community or system level.

The data is aggregated (meaning it will be grouped together with other individuals and families in the system) and shared anonymously (meaning it will not identify the client personally) with the Government of Nova Scotia and the Government of Canada to support investment in housing and homelessness programs in CBRM.

It supports triage to services, system performance evaluation and improvement, progress monitoring, and advocacy for the policies and resources necessary to prevent, reduce, and end homelessness. In other words, the data can be used to advocate for much-needed additional housing resources in the CBRM.

Title	Schedule	Wage/Salary	Status
No current job postings in Coordinated Access

Title

Schedule

Wage/Salary

Status

No current job postings in Coordinated Access

Eymu’ti’k Unama’ki

Eymu’ti’k Unama’ki, newte’jk l’uiknek te’sikl Mi’kmawe’l maqamikall mna’q iknmuetumittl. Ula maqamikew wiaqi-wikasik Wantaqo’tie’l aqq I’lamatultimkewe’l Ankukamkewe’l Mi’kmaq aqq Eleke’wuti kisa’matultisnik 1726ek.

We are in Unama’ki, one of the seven traditional and unceded ancestral territories of the people of Mi’kma’ki. This territory is covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship which the Mi’kmaq first signed with the British Crown in 1726.

Ketu’-keknuite’tmek aqq kepmite’tmek ula tela’matultimkip wjit maqamikew ta’n etekl mtmo’taqne’l. Ula tett, ula maqamikek, etl-lukutiek l’tunen aqq apoqntmnen apoqnmasimk aqq weliknamk Unama’ki.

We wish to recognize and honour this understanding of the lands on which we reside. It is from here, on these lands, that we work to create and support a culture of self-reliance and vibrancy.

Working to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring