Before receiving Reaching Home support, Zero Ceiling Society of Canada was a small, scrappy grassroots organization dedicated to expanding access for young people - access to housing, access to employment and income, access to caring supports, and access to land through recreational programming.

What Reaching Home funding has enabled us to do is deliver these supports more sustainably, at a larger scale, and with greater consistency. The funding allowed us to invest in the kinds of supports young people reported they needed most. In practice, this has meant investing in preventative supports and on-site staff who are present when participants need them most, creating conditions for them to thrive in a supportive, home-like environment that stabilizes young people. Before we had these on-site supports, we saw far more instances of police involvement, mental health crises, and violent interactions. These situations often disrupted participants’ progress and reduced the likelihood of long-term success. 

Since, we have grown our housing capacity from 8 beds to 11, added overnight supports, and significantly improved the living conditions for young people in our program. Previously, participants lived in staff accommodation provided by our employment partner, Whistler Blackcomb. Young people shared bedrooms in a dated two-bedroom apartment. This arrangement often created tension due to double occupancy and exposed participants to housing instability if they lost their employment placement.

Today, our housing is provided in partnership with two local nonprofit housing providers: the Whistler Housing Authority and Whistler Valley Housing Society. Our youth homes are newly built, spacious apartments provided by these partners. These homes are secure, insulated from market fluctuations, and allow us to house young people regardless of their employment status. This shift has dramatically improved stability and wellbeing for participants.

Reaching Home funding has also helped us become more efficient with our resources. Last year we housed 19 youths, the highest number in Zero Ceiling’s history.  Beyond program delivery, the funding has helped stabilize our operations and given us the capacity to explore ways to increase our long-term impact. Currently, we are exploring the purchase of a home that would reduce our annual operating costs while allowing us to serve more youth and have set a fundraising goal dedicated to purchasing the property. This home would house eight participants along with on-site supports and would allow us to expand our second-stage housing program for graduates.