To bring the issue of youth homelessness to audiences in an engaging and accessible way, The Home Depot Canada Foundation (THDCF) recently created The Safe House, a custom Fortnite map that immersed players in challenges inspired by the realities youth can face when trying to find stability and support.
Throughout the gameplay, players navigated a world filled with locked buildings, limited supplies and persistent danger before discovering THDCF’s Safe House, a beacon of hope, support and opportunity.
THDCF, The Home Depot Canada’s charitable organization, is dedicated to helping prevent and end youth homelessness through investments in housing, life-skills development, employment support and other critical services for youth.
By 2030, The Home Depot Canada Foundation will invest $125 million in creating new paths for youth at risk of or experiencing homelessness. THDCF designed this gaming experience to help young audiences understand the barriers and challenges that more than 35,000 youth experiencing homelessness in Canada face every day.
Last month, Canadian Fortnite creator jordy2d hosted a two-hour live Twitch stream, which began with the unboxing of a custom Foundation mailer featuring branded items, campaign materials and two mystery envelopes that revealed key elements of the experience. The unboxing helped introduce viewers to The Safe House before Jordy and his community entered the map together and explored its challenges. He blended gameplay with his signature hosting style to guide viewers through the custom-built map while naturally weaving in messaging about youth homelessness and THDCF’s mission to help prevent and end it.
In addition to the livestream, the campaign was promoted across both The Home Depot Canada’s and Jordy’s social channels.
“Youth homelessness isn’t always visible, and that can make it difficult for young people to understand or even know that it exists. With The Safe House, we wanted to create an experience that builds awareness through participation. By partnering with Jordy2d and bringing this conversation into Fortnite, we’re finding ways to engage new audiences in our mission to help prevent and end youth homelessness in Canada.” said Amy Bilodeau, Senior Manager, Community Affairs, The Home Depot Canada Foundation.
The custom gaming experience included:
- The inability to enter any other building other than The Safe House, representing homeless youth who have nowhere to go
- Orange “supply drops” that represented the resourcing from THDCF’s charity partners
- Multiple levels in the Safe House that unlocked more abilities like health upgrades and energy restoration
- THDCF campaign posters around placed on walls of the house
- A terrace with a launchpad where players could jump to gain a vantage point or travel to a new location, representing the new perspective youth develop after being equipped with resources and support systems
- A mysterious orange beam of light that helped guide the player to safe house
The Foundation said the stream received prominent placement on Twitch.tv through a custom homepage takeover, channel skins and additional platform integrations. The live stream generated the following:
- 98K+ views
- 85K+ unique viewers
- 258K+ minutes watched
“The Home Depot Canada Foundation is dedicated to preventing and ending youth homelessness. We have committed to invest $125 million by 2030 and work alongside youth-serving organizations across Canada to help young people access stable housing, develop life skills, and access employment opportunities and other supports they need to change their path in life. By partnering with organizations on the front lines serving youth experiencing homelessness, the Foundation is helping create new pathways to independence and long-term success for vulnerable youth across the country,” said Bilodeau.
“The Safe House presented a unique opportunity to raise awareness of youth experiencing homelessness in a way that was interactive, engaging and accessible to new audiences. Through a custom Fortnite experience and Twitch livestream, the project translated the real-world barriers faced by youth experiencing homelessness into an immersive experience that helped Canadians better understand the issue.
“For The Home Depot Canada Foundation, it was a powerful example of how innovative platforms can help spark meaningful conversations about an issue that affects thousands of young people across Canada.”
The Safe House project helped introduce conversations about youth homelessness to audiences that traditional awareness campaigns may not always reach, said Bilodeau.
“Through gameplay, livestream content and social engagement, the initiative encouraged people to learn more about the issue and consider how they can support efforts to address it,” she said.
“Beyond audience reach, the project demonstrated how innovative digital platforms can be used to drive awareness around important social issues. By meeting people where they spend their time online, Safe House created an accessible and engaging way to build empathy and understanding around youth homelessness.”
Since 2013, The Home Depot Canada Foundation has invested more than $94 million to support youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness across Canada, said Bilodeau.
“Annually this equates to $12 million across 179 partners supporting 30,000+ youth. Frontline youth serving organizations providing 90,000+ hours of wrap around supports, 48,000 hours of employment training and permanently housing 66% of the youth we serve through our housing supports,” she said.
“With a commitment to invest $125 million by 2030, we’re continuing to work alongside community partners to help young people access stable housing, employment opportunities and the support they need to build a more secure future.”
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