Project Highlights
Rooted in evidence.
Co-created for impact.
Every day, the organizations I work with are doing incredible work to strengthen programs and serve their communities. Through research, evaluation, strategic planning, and capacity building, we create the clarity and tools they need to reach their goals and deepen their impact.
Preventing Homelessness Among Young Mothers
Christine Stich, Laurence Roy, & Cécile Arbaud
Pregnant youth and young mothers experiencing homelessness face challenges that put their own health and their children’s well-being at risk.
In partnership with Dans la Rue and other Montreal organizations, we listened to the stories of young women (ages 16 – 24) through interviews and focus groups. Together, we map key turning points into and out of homelessness and identify supports that could have changed their paths.
Findings will give service providers and decision-makers a clearer picture of where to act earlier, while inspiring new ideas to design stronger supports for young families at risk.
Co-Designing and Evaluation Plan with Dans la Rue
Christine Stich, Racha Lakrouf & Dans la Rue
In 2022, we partnered with Dans la Rue, a Montreal nonprofit supporting youth experiencing homelessness, to design an evaluation plan for their intervention program. The program offers emergency shelter, outreach, housing, and daily support to improve young people’s quality of life and autonomy.
Working closely with staff, managers, and youth, we co-developed a participatory framework to examine access, service use, and outcomes across program components such as the Bunker (emergency shelter), day centre, housing units, and outreach services.
The process gave youth and frontline staff a voice in shaping how services will be assessed and improved, laying the groundwork for future evaluation and stronger, more responsive supports for young people.
Literature Review to Support Youth in Housing Programs
Christine Stich, Racha Lakrouf, & Juliane Moreau
Finding and keeping safe, affordable housing is one of the biggest challenges for young people experiencing homelessness in Montreal.
In collaboration with Dans la Rue, we reviewed Canadian and international research to identify promising practices for helping youth transition to independent housing — from case management and life skills training to peer support, social integration, and mental health services.
The findings show that housing alone is not enough: youth succeed when it is paired with strong, flexible supports that reflect their goals and strengths. These insights are now informing local organizations as they design programs to prevent long-term homelessness.
Evaluating the Nico-Bar Pilot Project
Christine Stich & Emmanuelle Batisse
Young adults in Quebec’s vocational and adult education centers smoke at higher rates than their peers. To address this, the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) launched the Nico-Bar, a creative, bar-themed initiative designed to spark conversations about smoking and motivate reflection on quitting.
We partnered with the Society to evaluate the implementation of the pilot across 30 centers, using surveys, activity journals, and staff interviews. The results showed that the Nico-Bar engaged hundreds of youth, increased their knowledge about smoking’s harms, and opened up dialogue about cessation. These insights helped refine the model to better reach young adults with engaging, practical tools for prevention. Today the Nico-Bar is offered by the CCS as a challenge via Messenger and Instragram.
Evaluating Québec's Text-Messaging Quit Service (SMAT)
Christine Stich & Benoit Lasnier
SMAT is a text-messaging service designed to help young adults quit smoking through supportive, motivational messages.
In partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society and the Ministry of Health and Social Services, we evaluated how SMAT was used, who it reached, and whether it was effective. More than 1,300 people participated — most under the age of 35.
The evaluation showed that SMAT reached a younger, more diverse group of smokers than traditional cessation services. Nearly 1 in 3 participants had quit smoking at 8 months, results consistent with similar programs in Canada and abroad. Participants valued the motivational texts and flexibility of the service, while findings also pointed to areas for improvement such as stronger promotion and tailored content for underserved groups.
This project demonstrates how digital health tools can support tobacco control strategies and highlights the role of evaluation in making these tools more effective and accessible.
