Support Provided Through Sport: An Evaluation of an Intervention for People Experiencing Homelessness

The last ten years in Canada have seen a degree of merger between community mental health services and efforts to end homelessness, in part through the growth of a Housing First model in the homelessness sector. As efforts are made to move individuals experiencing homelessness into permanent housing, one component being explored is how to anchor people into communities while they manage ongoing mental health concerns. Sport has been identified as one potential modality of building social inclusion. In this paper, a mixed methods evaluation is presented on a program intended to increase social inclusion through sports geared towards those living with mental health challenges and/or experiencing homelessness. Results showed that the program was a ‘Refuge’ for people with complex and challenging lives, that participants found a sense of ‘Fellowship’, and discovered ‘New Energy’. It is concluded that community sports programs might offer a promising intervention to move community integration from aspiration to reality. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature India Private Limited.