Background:
Through the Skookum Lab research phase (2018 – 2021) the Lab’s Action Areas clarified that finding safe, secure and affordable housing is a significant challenge to Indigenous people living in poverty.
Prioritizing housing for a prototype, Skookum Lab cultivated a vision of housing options that could be Indigenous, collective in nature, and facilitate both cultural and economic participation and support. This vision was cultivated with community in a Housing Solutions Lab, in which a prototype allowed for a deeper dive into the needs and aspirations for Indigenous housing in Surrey. Skookum Lab infrastructure was used to engage the community and other systems entrepreneurs that could support progressive change.
The Housing Solutions Lab was nested within the governance ecosystem of Skookum Lab. SUILC is responsible for the overall project. The Skookum Lab Task Force will provide social innovation oversight and operational decisions will be made by the Skookum Lab Housing Leadership Group, including:
· Kekinow Native Housing Society
· Seven Sacred Fires
· Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Center (FRAFCA)
· Nova Métis Heritage Association
· CMHC
· BC Housing
· City of Surrey
· Aboriginal Housing Management Association
Thank you to our funder, CMHC!
The Housing Solutions Lab entitled “Skookum Lab: Urban Housing Solutions for Indigenous Youth and Young Families” received funding from the National Housing Strategy under the NHS Solutions Labs.
Housing in Surrey Today
As Skookum Lab has come to a sunset, and the research is complete; the community has defined some key steps forward.
First and foremost is the
SUILC Housing Call to Action of 2021
Which was derived from the Housing Report
Additionally, the Housing Call to Action helps to articulate what our community has stated.
Community Interviews on Housing:
