Applicants to the program must be at least 16 years of age, of low income, have a history of mental health issues and be willing to live in a boarding home or a rooming house.

Applicants for Habitat funded housing must fulfill its eligibility criteria. All referrals must be made to Habitat Services. Habitat Services receives referrals from over 170 sources including hospitals, community mental health agencies and shelters. Self-referrals are also accepted. More than 750 referrals were made through Habitat services in 2006.

Applicants complete a Client Information Form (CIF), often with the assistance of a referring worker. The completed CIF is faxed to the Habitat Services office. An Intake Worker reviews the information on the CIF and matches the applicant to an available vacancy. The applicant's preferences, to live in a particular house or location for example, are taken into account as much as possible. The Intake Worker then telephones the home operator and makes the referral. If the operator wishes to meet the applicant for an interview, the operator and the applicant will make the necessary arrangements together. The applicant will then have the opportunity to view the home. He or she may also meet the staff and tenants.

The home operator will decide if the applicant may become a tenant of the home. Tenants who move into Habitat funded housing sign a tenancy agreement and pay monthly rental charges. If an applicant is not accepted, or chooses not to move into the home, the Intake Worker will try to match them to another vacancy.

Tenants who are housed in a Habitat funded home may also request a transfer to another home by contacting Intake. Tenants are reminded that they have agreed (in signing the Tenancy Agreement) to give one month's notice to the operator before moving.

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