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Melissa Gunstone

When Home Doesn’t Feel Safe

October 11, 2025
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Imagine this: You’re walking home after a long day. You reach your building, but instead of relief, you pause. The doorway — the very threshold that should signal safety and rest — feels like a risk. For many tenants in multi-unit housing, this is the reality. Unsafe entrances, loitering, and harassment mean that at times (if not most of the time), home doesn’t feel safe. Add to that the disconnection between neighbours and the underuse of tenant programs, and the result is isolation, fear, and wasted resources.

What if it could be different?

Imagine a culture of belonging where tenants feel safe at their front door, know their neighbours, and enjoy vibrant community activities. Imagine housing programs that residents actually want to attend because they feel heard and needed.


The obstacles are real

  • Fear and mistrust erode trust between tenants and the wider community.
  • Stigma toward people outside the building, and sometimes within it, deepens disconnection.
  • Despite having resources, programs sit half-empty because tenants don’t feel a sense of belonging.

A new approach: Belonging Matters Conversations

This is where Belonging Matters Conversations (BMC) come in. Rooted in values-based problem solving, BMC brings together people with lived and living expertise — the very people most impacted by the issues — to share stories, identify priority challenges, and co-create solutions.

In one recent housing community, tenants named front-door safety as their number one issue. They described being attacked, harassed, and forced to step over garbage or drug use just to enter their homes. Through the structured dialogue of BMC, tenants identified strategies, built trust, and developed solutions together.

The change we saw

  • Tenant-led initiatives: walking groups, buddy systems, posters with safety tips.
  • Stronger trust: phone trees and neighbour-to-neighbour support.
  • Collaboration with system influencers: city managers and community police provided sidewalk cleaning, security patrols, and resources.
  • Culture shift: As safety improved, so did energy. Social events like waffle mornings, karaoke, and games nights became opportunities for connection and joy.
As one participant shared:

“All of you listened and acknowledged us — and you acted. It’s not just talk, it’s change.”

When Home Doesn’t Feel Safe - tenant-led initiatives

The risk of doing nothing

Without change, unsafe doorways remain daily traumas. Tenants retreat into isolation. Programs go unused. Trust erodes. And the cycle of fear and disconnection continues.


A proven path forward

Belonging Matters Conversations provide more than dialogue — they are a roadmap for transformational change. They engage diversity, build belonging, and ignite collaboration between tenants, managers, and system partners. By amplifying the voices of those most impacted, communities co-create solutions that are practical, sustainable, and lasting.

Tags:

culture shift, front-door safety, housing programs, tenant-led initiatives
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About the Author:
Melissa Gunstone

Melissa Gunstone is a Culture & Belonging Strategist who works with non-profits, corporations, and HR leaders to help them strengthen their equity and inclusion efforts. Through thoughtful consultation, she uncovers each organization's priority challenges and connects them with Jessie Sutherland’s award-winning Belonging Matters approach (a series that transformed the culture of the non-profit she was working in). Melissa ensures that every organization she works with is aligned with the right tools, programs, and supports to expand what's already working—and make meaningful, lasting change.

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