Glossary

Welcome to the Home Unite Us glossary!

Entries are sorted alphabetically.

A

B

Bid- Action where Guest indicates they would like to stay at a specific Host's Home.

C

Case Manager - The case manager provides support for the Guest throughout the program.

Chosen family model - See Kinship-match model.

Co-Host - The secondary Host (example: spouse of the Host) who will also be housing the Guest.

Co-Guest - The secondary Guest (example: spouse of the Guest) who will be sharing the home with the Guest and Host.

Coordinator - The Coordinator maintains the overall Host Home program and serves as the main contact for Hosts.

Couch-surfing - Moving from one temporary living arrangement to another without a secure or stable place to live.

F

Family and natural support approach - see Kinship-match model.

G

Guest- A homeless youth receiving support from a Case Manager and choosing a Host to live with for a temporary period of time.

H

Homelessness - Experiences of sleeping in places not meant for living, staying in shelters, or temporarily staying with others (“couch surfing”) while lacking a safe and stable alternative living arrangement.

Host- The Host provides the Guest with space in their home. The Host can be a community member that Guest does not know, a family member, or a family friend.

Host Home- A youth homelessness intervention that houses youth in their own space in the home of a community member for a period between 1 month to 1 year.

K

Kinship-match model - A Host Home model that works with youth to identify and offer resources to people within their existing support network (family, chosen family, friends, mentors, and others) who may be able to house them. This model rejects the assumption that youth without a stable place to live don’t know any people who might be willing to house them. This model is also sometimes called the "chosen family model" or the "family and natural supports approach."

P

PSY - Point Source Youth: The national stakeholder, produced the booklets and programs used by groups like SPY.

R

Respite- A short term stay for the Guest.

S

SPA- Service Planning Area: A geographic area designated by the Department of Public Health to develop and provide more relevant public health and clinical services targeted to the specific health needs of the residents in these different areas.

SPY- Safe Place for Youth: Our host-home project partner and a service provider for youths experiencing homelessness. Headquartered in Venice.

Stranger-match model - A Host Home model that recruits Hosts from the community to provide housing for youth that they do not know.

Y

Youth - Varying age ranges are used for youth. The most common internationally is 15-24 years old.