Sustainable development goals and post-pandemic resilience: lessons from a community-based social service agency

Interlinkages between the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and pandemic-related vulnerabilities have not received adequate attention at the level of the community. The ability of vulnerable populations to navigate challenges associated with accessing good health, food security and safe, inclusive communities frame the local contexts of the SDGs to which Canada is a signatory. Thus the efficacy of the SDGs is also hinged on what happens on the social services frontlines from which data is later funneled to policymakers. This paper presents the findings of a participatory study of 20 social service providers and 20 service users at a community-based social service agency in Toronto. The study agency provides on-site and mobile housing support services to adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Drawing on systemic, organizational and community resilience lenses, the study aimed to understand how the pandemic has and continues impact how these populations negotiate access to nutrition (SDG 2—Zero Hunger), health (SDG 3—Good Health and Well-being) and inclusive communities (SDG 11—Sustainable Cities, Inclusive and Resilient, Communities). Findings illustrate that social service provision and utilization during the pandemic were framed by the social services agency’s broader social development goals and risk management strategies. The data also pointed to a need for explicit strategies that can enhance post-pandemic resilience. The paper fosters an understanding of the integrated nature of risk management and systemic resilience strategies to support institutional social services for vulnerable populations and by extension, the advancing of sustainability goals at the community level. The resilience triad has emerged as a generative framework for enhancing social service provision and utilization during the COVID-19 era and can guide the development of strategies to increase post-pandemic systemic stability.