homeslessness response toolkit
For the Fundy Region
about this guide
As homelessness becomes more visible in our communities, this guide offers residents, businesses, and organizations practical steps, respectful language tips, everyday guidance, and local resources to navigate common situations with compassion and safety in mind. It is a living document that will be updated regularly.
On this page you will find a short summary of our Homelessness Response Toolkit. Download the full toolkit here.
what’s in this toolkit?
Understanding Homelessness — What it means, harm reduction, roles & responsibilities
What We Say Matters — Language tips to reduce stigma
What To Do If… — Step-by-step guide for common situations (e.g., sleeping in a doorway, mental health crisis, found needle, overdose, etc.)
What’s Happening in Our Region — Service providers & contacts, local data
understanding homelessness
Individuals experiencing homelessness are people first. They are navigating a complex, painful reality, not just problems to be solved.
Homelessness is rooted in systemic issues: affordable housing shortages, gaps in mental health services, low-wage or unstable employment, and insufficient social services—not simply poor choices or personal failings.
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According to the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, it includes a range of housing and shelter circumstances:
Unsheltered
Emergency Sheltered
Provisionally Accommodated
At Risk of Homelessness
Even those who are housed can face vulnerability similar to unsheltered, emergency sheltered, or provisionally accommodated individuals. Recognizing this broader spectrum helps us understand and respond effectively.
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Anyone can experience homelessness, and the majority of us are closer to homelessness than we are to extreme wealth. Homelessness does not discriminate. However, there are some groups of people who are disproportionately represented in the homeless population. This includes our indigenous community members, black and racialized people, and youth exiting or who have been connected government care. Seniors are the fastest growing group of people experiencing homelessness.
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Harm reduction is an evidence-based (supported by research and studies), client-centred, public health approach to reducing harms related to addiction and substance use. The primary goal is to save lives and protect the health of people who use drugs and their communities. Other goals include: decreasing the stigma of addiction and drug use, increasing education on safer substance use, encouraging protected sex, and connecting people who use drugs with supports when they voice readiness. It recognizes that there will always be people who use drugs including some who are unwilling or unable to stop. Harm reduction in practice requires individualized supports to help each individual meet their goals.
We engage in harm reduction in our daily lives and may not realize it. Wearing a helmet when riding a bike, wearing a seatbelt in a car, and looking before crossing the street are all examples of harm reduction. Each of those actions minimize a risk. Common examples of harm reduction for drug and substance use include: using a nicotine patch instead of smoking, consuming water while drinking alcohol, housing first programs, using substances in safe environments with trusted people, and needle exchange programs.
Harm reduction services don’t require people to stop or abstain from using substances unless that is their goal. Instead, focus is placed on making positive changes in a way that meets the needs of the individual. Choice is given to as to how someone wants to minimize harm to themselves without judgement or coercion. At the same time, harm reduction promotes opportunities to enhance skills and knowledge for living safer and healthier lives.
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what we say matters
Language shapes perceptions, reinforces stereotypes, and contributes to stigma. The words we choose influence our own attitudes and those of others, and using humanizing language helps us see people experiencing homelessness as individuals deserving respect and support.
Using respectful language demonstrates care for vulnerable community members and helps educate the wider community.
Stigmatizing Language & Alternatives
urban, suburban, and rural homelessness
Our region is made up of urban, suburban, and rural communities. Each community has residents experiencing homeless, but those experiences will look and feel different depending on where the person is. Let’s look at homelessness in urban, suburban, and rural communities.
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Unsheltered urban homelessness is what people recognize because the concentration of people experiencing homelessness in urban areas is greater and unsheltered homelessness is more obvious. You can see folks sleeping on park benches or in the doorways of buildings. In urban communities people experiencing homelessness can connect most easily to social and community supports. In the Fundy Region, for example, the only emergency shelters are in the City of Saint John. That is also where community services offering supports to individuals experiencing homelessness are located. The number of people who are provisionally accommodated or at risk of homelessness is harder to know because of the hidden nature of their experiences.
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Homelessness in suburban communities is often hidden from the public eye. Residents experiencing homelessness usually sleep in their vehicle, stay on a couch at a friend or family member’s home, or rent rooms in a motel/hotel instead sleeping on the street.
Challenges of suburban homelessness include: communities growing at faster rates than the construction of new and/or appropriate housing, a lack of affordable housing - especially rentals due to high rates of home ownership, and transportation barriers. With the majority of services concentrated in urban centres, it’s harder for people in suburban communities to get the support they need.
Homelessness prevention may be the most important tool for suburban communities to avoiding homelessness crises.
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The appeal of living in a rural community has a lot to do that ‘small town feel’ where everyone knows one another. The challenge is that when someone is experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness people know about it which can lead to stigmatization and judgement. There are even fewer services in small, rural communities because of the relatively small number of people living there. People in rural communities rely heavily on their personal networks for support, keeping homelessness in rural areas hidden. People often couch surf with friends or family or stay on someone’s property in other structures like a shed or camper. Transportation in rural communities is a barrier for connecting to supports and services in nearby urban communities. If someone does not have access to reliable transportation they may end up ‘stuck’ in substandard housing or unhoused and unable to access support.
Prevention is key to combatting homelessness, and this is most true in rural settings where an entrance into homelessness is rarely able to be supported in the community.
In this section you’ll find suggestions of what to do in situations you may encounter with people experiencing homelessness. There are steps you can take and contact information for supports and resources. This list is not exhaustive but covers the most common situations.
what to do if...
Recommendations for business owners & employees:
You have the right to call emergency services if someone is causing trouble at your workplace.
There are also non-emergency options to help prevent conflicts, build trust and understanding, and set an example for your staff, customers, or colleagues to treat everyone with dignity and respect.
211 is a great resource to connect people with supports.
It’s important to trust your instincts. If a situation feels aggressive, threatening, or escalates, call 911.
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our region today
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resources & information
local data & research
The Human Development Council (HDC) is a social research and planning council that identifies and addresses social issues in New Brunswick through research, information, coordination and networking. Their website, sjhdc.ca, provides an array of local New Brunswick data and reports on demographics and social issues.
Rent Bank
Are you a renter concerned about being able to pay your rent. You may qualify for support through the New Brunswick Rent Bank. Click here for more information.
Community info: 211
Looking for community resources in the Fundy Region? 211 has you covered. Access their website here or call them to get support in navigating important resources in our region.
Canadian research
Find tons of research and resources on the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness has extensive research on their website that is all free to access.
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