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By Victor Kaisar

Reaching Home Fund

City of Kamloops announces 2025-2028 Reaching Home funding recipients

Aug 23, 2025 | 7:00 AM

KAMLOOPS — The City of Kamloops has announced the list of groups that will be getting money from the federal government’s Reaching Home program that aims to prevent and reduce homelessness.

A call for proposals earlier this year led to applications from 11 organizations representing 15 potential projects for the 2025 to 2028 funding years. In a news release, the City of Kamloops says a funding review committee reviewed the applications and allocated just under $2.25-million to seven different groups.

“As the facilitator of the Reaching Home program, the City of Kamloops is honoured to support the essential work of social agencies whose leadership is critical in our collective response to homelessness and our ability to care for the most vulnerable residents,” Natasha Hartson, the city’s Social, Housing and Community Development Manager said.

“Together, we are building a community where everyone has the opportunity to feel safe, supported and hopeful for the future.”

The Ask Wellness Society is getting funding to two programs:

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• Kamloops Recovery Engagement and Navigation Specialist Program: It helps individuals in shelters and supportive housing navigate, access, and transition into recovery programming.
• Seniors Tenancy Development Program: secures housing and provides life-skills and clinical supports for adults aged 55 and over with complex needs.

“Reaching Home funding provides flexible support that helps us address diverse housing needs,” ASK Wellness CEO Bob Hughes said in the release. “From delivering stabilizing recovery services for people in shelters and supportive housing, to expanding access to affordable homes for seniors facing significant barriers in the rental market.”

A Way Home Kamloops also received funding for the Youth Housing First-Scattered Sites Housing Program, which offers housing and wraparound supports for youth aged 16-to-27. This program is aimed at helping young people build life skills while connecting them to the community so they can transition to independent living.

The Blue House Recovery Society also got funding to continue its work at Blue House and Willow House through the Outreach and Support Worker program, which provides life skills support to program participants, helping build independence and stability in recovery.

“Reaching Home funding has been transformative for our small non-profit, allowing us to expand our services and support our clients in ways that would not have been possible otherwise,” said Sean Marshall, Executive Director at the Blue House Recovery Society.

The Kamloops branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association was also given funding for its Envision Connect program. The mobile outreach and transportation service connects people to shelter and other essential services.

“Reaching Home funding has been instrumental in helping the Envision Outreach provide year-round, lifesaving supports to our community,” noted Alfred Achoba, the executive director at CMHA Kamloops.

“From delivering water and cooling supplies during extreme heat to distributing warm gear and connecting people to shelter in the coldest months, this support ensures we can meet people where they are and respond with compassion, dignity and urgency.”

Achoba also said as demand grows, CMHA is “committed to meeting people where they are and ensuring no one is left without help.”

The Connective Support Society Kamloops was given money to continue operating the Light House Transitional Housing, which bridges the gap between shelter services and supportive housing. It provides safe, affordable homes for people rebuilding their lives after a housing crisis.

Elsewhere, the Elizabeth Fry Society was given funding for three programs:

• Rent Bank: offers no-interest loans to individuals and families at risk of losing their housing to help prevent homelessness, improve financial education and support resource navigation.
• Family Stepping Stones: offers long-term supportive housing for women and children to heal, stabilize, and work toward independence through crisis intervention, life skills, children’s supports and community connection.
• Women’s Housing Support Program: helps low-income women, especially mothers, secure and maintain safe housing through systems navigation, financial guidance, life skills, self-advocacy and safety planning.

And finally, The Mustard Seed received funding for two initiatives:

• Street Advocacy Program: focuses on building trust and connection with individuals experiencing homelessness, offering basic support and service connections, and help with things like getting identification or accessing treatment. Street advocates also liaise with local businesses and provide crisis de-escalation.
• Diversion Program: helps individuals experiencing homelessness secure stable housing quickly, removing financial barriers by offering financial supports in the form of rental supplements, deposits and/or moving expenses.

“Reaching Home funding has enabled The Mustard Seed’s Street Advocacy Program to positively impact the outcomes of those experiencing homelessness by empowering our unhoused citizens to achieve their housing, treatment or employment goals with support and encouragement,” said Sarah Sharp, the Mustard Seed’s Health and Wellness Manager.

“[It] reminds our community that compassionate collaborative action can be the bridge between hardship and hope.”

According to the City of Kamloops, since 2019, the Reaching Home Designated Communities funding stream has distributed over $7 million to local organizations that support programs for individuals experiencing homelessness or who are at imminent risk of homelessness.

More information on the Reaching Home program can be found here.