“Naatamooskakowin” is the name of Winnipeg’s Coordinated Access System. Elder Belinda Vandenbroeck gifted the name Naatamooskakowin in March 2022. It is a Cree word meaning “a place to come to for help, shelter, or resources.”
Naatamooskakowin is a new way for people to connect quickly with the housing and supports they need.
This resource is for people who experience homelessness and face barriers to finding a place. These barriers may include things like needing a place that is accessible for a disability, needing a place for you and your kids, or not having family or friends in town who can help you out.
Quick Links
- How to get help from Naatamooskakowin
- Information for Service Providers
- Background: How Naatamooskakowin was created
- Additional Information
How to get Help from Naatamooskakowin
To get help from Naatamooskakowin, people go to an appointment with a Sharing Team member at an Access Point.
To Make an Appointment
- Download a current list of Access Points here, and call the one that is most accessible to you, OR
- Call 211 to ask for a current list of Access Points for Naatamooskakowin: Winnipeg’s Coordinated Access System, OR
- Ask for a current list of Access Points from an emergency shelter, OR
- Ask your support worker/service provider to make an appointment for you
At the appointment, the Sharing Team member will listen to your story.
After the appointment, Naatamooskakowin staff with match the info you shared with the options for housing and supports that fit your needs. Then, you choose from these options what you think will work best.
Information for Service Providers
Download the Naatamooskakowin FAQ for Service Providers here.
Download the Naatamooskakowin FAQ for Correctional Facilities here.
Download a current list of Access Points for Naatamooskakowin here.
Naatamooskakowin is for people who are experiencing homelessness AND facing multiple barriers to securing safe housing. Service providers have an important role to play in identifying people for Naatamooskakowin and talking to them about it. See “What to Ask” on the lower part of this FAQ for questions to keep in mind when considering whether someone is a good fit for Naatamooskakowin. If you have found someone that Naatamooskakowin is for, make an appointment for them at an Access Point that is accessible to them, ideally within 48 hours.
Background: How Naatamooskakowin was Created
As Winnipeg’s Community Entity for Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy, End Homelessness Winnipeg was responsible for co-creating a Coordinated Access system in Winnipeg by March 31, 2022.
Reaching Home defines Coordinated Access as a process by which individuals and families experiencing or at-risk of homelessness are directed to community-level Access Points, where they are supported to address housing challenges through a consistent triage and assessment process that is trauma-informed and culturally appropriate. At the triage stage, people can be supported through diversion or prevention to other services and housing resources. Following assessment, people are prioritized for housing resources and supports based on the system’s identified outcomes and goals, as defined by the community. Finally, people are Matched and Referred, through consistent processes, to appropriate housing resources, to begin their journey home.
Winnipeg’s Coordinated Access Journey began in late 2019 with a series of 3 community engagement sessions welcoming diverse participation. The feedback from these sessions was that The 7 Teachings of Love, Respect, Courage, Honesty, Wisdom, Humility and Truth should serve as the core values guiding the Coordinated Access system. Cultural safety needs to be central to the process and the services offered, as does Harm Reduction and a trauma-informed approach. Design and implementation processes must include a diversity of Lived Experts.
In Fall 2020, the process picked up again with the establishment of an Advisory Committee, structured to reflect the stakeholder groups identified by the earlier engagement sessions. The Advisory Committee’s main goal was to establish a governance structure for co-creating Coordinated Access. The Governance Structure recommended by the Advisory Committee included creation of a Coordinated Access Council to provide guidance on the planning of engagement and co-creation strategies to help our community develop Coordinated Access; and to provide oversight and feedback on the implementation and monitoring of Coordinated Access. This Council was formed in January 2021.
In June 2021, a community engagement session was held to identify the Vision and Outcomes for Winnipeg’s Coordinated Access system.
Vision Statement
Coordinated Access creates lasting solutions with our community to provide a seamless and rapid exit from the experience homelessness through system collaboration and coordination that is person-centered, anti-oppressive, trauma-informed, strengths-based, and grounded in the principles of harm reduction.
Outcomes
- People are housed. People housed do not return to homelessness
- Lengths of time experiencing homelessness are reduced
- Outcomes determined and measured by Lived Experts, for example:
- Intake and assessment are rapid, consistent, low-barrier, culturally safe
- People use and value the services; they feel respected have their needs met
- People have meaningful choices for where and how to live
- People have access to all needed supports after being housed
- Number of services included within Coordinated Access is comprehensive: information on services is kept current; communication is timely
- Staff Trainings: Providers have a community of practice, sharing person-centered, culturally safe, anti-oppressive, trauma-informed, strengths-based, harm reduction strategies through an Indigenous lens reflecting the diversity of Indigenous peoples
- All partners communicate, collaborate, and share information and resources: pooling data in a shared, real-time system designed to support people to exit homelessness. Services and benefits are coordinated across systems
Additional Information
- 2025 Coordinated Access Evaluation Report (.pdf)
- 2024 August list of Naatamooskakowin Access Points (.pdf)
- 2022 Naatamooskakowin FAQ for Service Providers (.pdf)
- 2022 Sharing the Journey of Coordinated Access in Winnipeg: Logic Model and Evaluation Framework (.pdf)
- 2021 What We Heard: Coordinated Access Vision and Outcomes (.pdf)
- 2020 Revisioning Coordinated Access: Fostering Indigenous Best Practices Towards a Wholistic Systems Approach to Homelessness (.pdf)
- 2019 Reaching Home Coordinated Access Guide (.pdf)
- September 2022 Updated Naatamooskakowin Policy and Procedure Guide
Previous Newsletters
2023
Naatamooskakowin Newsletter – September 2023
Naatamooskakowin Newsletter – July and August 2023
Naatamooskakowin Newsletter – June 2023
Naatamooskakowin Newsletter – May 2023