HAUSE Family Fire Recovery Guide

Start where your family is

This guide combines the full corrected emotional-support article with practical pages for your family’s own needs. It does not diagnose trauma, prescribe treatment or impose a recovery timeline. Choose the prompts that help; people can decline to answer.

For immediate danger or urgent medical support, call 911. If you or someone else is thinking about suicide in Canada, call or text 9-8-8. Use the verified links in this guide to find current services and eligibility. HAUSE does not provide clinical care.

• Confirm where everyone is staying and a safe way to contact them.
• Ask about medicine, mobility, sensory, language, cultural and communication needs.
• Choose a trusted helper for practical arrangements.
• Identify how each person can ask for help or a break.

Household / preferred contacts

Safe accommodation / transport

Important medicine or accessibility arrangements

Trusted helper and preferred way to ask for help

A gentle family check-in

Try a short conversation at a time that works for the family. Use plain, age-appropriate language and say when something is unknown. Listen without requiring anyone to tell the story again. The worksheet records preferences; it does not score distress.

• Ask: What feels hardest today?
• Ask: What would help you feel supported?
• Ask: Is there a practical task you want help with?
• Ask: Who would you like to talk to, and how?
• Agree what information may be shared with helpers or school.

Family preferences

Children, teenagers and caregivers

The retained age bands in the full article are examples for conversation, not diagnostic rules. Ask a qualified child-health or support professional about the child’s actual concerns. Coordinate with school or childcare as needed, and respect a young person’s privacy and preferences.

• Explain known next steps simply and acknowledge changes in routine.
• Offer a choice of talking, drawing, play or quiet time.
• Ask what school, friendships or activities they want help reconnecting with.
• Record concerns to discuss with a qualified professional rather than making a diagnosis.
• If a child expresses a wish not to live, seek urgent help; do not wait for a checklist date.

School / caregiver contact and consent

Questions for child-health or support professional

Comfort item / activity / safe routine

Agreed follow-up contact

A manageable day

Choose a small plan that fits current accommodation and energy. It can change. Practical choices are not a treatment plan or a test of how well anyone is recovering.

Today’s arrangements

Tasks that can be shared

Memories and losses

Loss can involve belongings, photographs, familiar spaces and community ties. People may want different ways to remember or rebuild. Do not enter unsafe areas or handle damaged items for this exercise. Ask a contents specialist about any physical item you hope to recover.

• List memories you would like to preserve or ask others to share.
• Choose whether to make a new photo, story or keepsake collection.
• Record a sentimental item question for the appropriate assessor.
• Allow space to postpone a decision.

Memory or tradition we want to preserve

People who may have photographs or stories

Item / evidence / question for assessor

A decision we want to leave for later

Choosing support

Use the official directory below and your primary care provider to explore options. A directory entry is not a guarantee of appointment, suitability or eligibility. Confirm the actual service, qualifications, cost, languages, accessibility, location or virtual arrangements and privacy practices.

• Ask what support is available for the person’s age and circumstances.
• Ask about waiting time, referral requirements and costs.
• Ask how family members may participate and what confidentiality means.
• Record the next step and who agreed to help arrange it.

Support enquiry record

Verified Canadian support links

Canada.ca provides national, provincial and territorial mental-health resources. 9-8-8 is a suicide-crisis support service; it is not an appointment-booking directory. Its official page points people seeking therapists or other local services to 211 or their primary care provider.

Official directory: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/mental-health-services/mental-health-get-help.html

Suicide-crisis information: https://988.ca/get-help/what-to-expect

Community-service search: https://211.ca/

Keep the family record useful

Choose what to keep private and where the family can find the record. Do not put sensitive health details into a property quote or general enquiry unless the person wants to share them. The full corrected emotional-support article begins on the next page.

• Save the current contact list and preferred communication methods.
• Choose one next family check-in rather than a fixed recovery deadline.
• Update arrangements and support links when needs change.

Next family check-in

What we want to keep private

Person maintaining the shared practical plan

Official guidance and continued reading

Health Canada recommends manageable priorities, supportive connections, routines where possible and age-appropriate conversations. Seek professional help when distress overwhelms daily functioning. Canada.ca lists national and regional services. In Canada, call or text 9-8-8 for suicide-crisis support; call 911 for immediate danger. The 9-8-8 service also directs people to 211 or primary care for local mental-health services.

• Health Canada: Evacuations and your mental health
  https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/healthy-living/evacuations-mental-health.html
  Checked October 6, 2026. Practical support, routines, connection, age-appropriate communication and seeking professional help.
• Public Health Agency of Canada: Mental health support - get help
  https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/mental-health-services/mental-health-get-help.html
  Checked October 6, 2026. National, provincial and territorial mental-health resources.
• 9-8-8: What to expect
  https://988.ca/get-help/what-to-expect
  Checked October 6, 2026. Canadian suicide-crisis support and direction to 211 or primary care for local services.

Printable companion: HAUSE Family Fire Recovery Guide