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Publication Date: 2020
Although Canada is recognized internationally as a leader in immigration policy, supports are not responsive to the traumatic experiences of many newcomers. Many mothers and children arriving in Canada are at elevated risk of homelessness. (1) Methods: This study utilized a community-engaged design, grounded in a critical analysis of gender and immigration status. We conducted individual and group interviews with a purposive sample of 18 newcomer...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2020
Family homelessness is a complex and pervasive issue in Canada. Particularly troubling is the overrepresentation of Indigenous families in Canada’s emergency shelters and in unsafe/ unstable housing. Indigenous families headed by women are at high risk for racist and violent practices and particular attention needs to be paid to their gendered and cultural experiences. Western definitions articulate that homelessness occurs when an individual or...
Publication Date: 2019
This study examines the impacts of structural violence on women and how this can influence their trajectory into and their sustainable exits from homelessness.
The research is qualitative and community-based, including 15 interviews with mothers living in emergency shelters and a group interview with nine professionals. An advisory group was formed through partnership with community services to provide project oversight and guide and interpret th...
Publication Date: 2019
This article aims to evaluate and assess the health issues of Calgarians over the age of 50 who are experiencing chronic homelessness, determine their unmet service needs, and assess whether there are predictors of chronic homelessness (such as childhood trauma) that could be addressed with changes to policy or service delivery. Three hundred participants were recruited from emergency shelters, as well as a from a small group of rough sleepers in...
Publication Date: 2018
Summary
The seeds of chronic homelessness, with the addictions and mental illness that often accompany it, are sown frequently in traumatic childhoods. A survey of 300 people experiencing chronic homelessness and those sleeping rough in Calgary reveals that these individuals have suffered childhood trauma at a rate five times higher than the general population. Those traumas include neglect, parents with addiction issues, domestic violence and ab...
Organization: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2017
This report examines social experiences for mothers and children who are experiencing homelessness in two shelters and one housing program in Calgary, Alberta. Currently, much of the research on homelessness and what works for supporting individuals into sustainable housing comes from research on the single, adult, male population.
This study provides evidence to better understand how families become homeless, and the experiences of mothers and c...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2016
Turner in 2014 described system planning within a Housing First context as “a method of organizing and delivering service, housing and programs that coordinates diverse resources to ensure that efforts align with homelessness-reduction goals” (p. 7). In this chapter I take up this understanding of system planning and apply it to a case study of CHF’s System Planning Framework (CHF, 2014), a tool created as one component of the overall system’s ap...
Organization: Calgary Homeless Foundation; University of Calgary, Faculty of Social Work
Publication Date: 2014
In response to the continued growth of family homelessness, communities across Canada are developing family-centered interventions to end homelessness and help families achieve residential stability. In Calgary, there is concern for the growing number of families entering into homelessness with Calgary’s two emergency shelters consistently at capacity. Families experiencing homelessness face a range of structural barriers, personal risk factors,...
Organization: Calgary Homeless Foundation
Publication Date: 2013
Aboriginal people are overrepresented in Canada’s urban homeless numbers and the same is true for Calgary where the most recent count of homeless persons found 21% were Aboriginal and 38% of those found sleeping rough were Aboriginal. In the research project reported on here we critically examined Aboriginal people’s experiences of migration from rural to urban settings and how systems create and respond to homelessness. Specifically we explored...
Publication Date: 2012
Purpose/Objectives: Homelessness is a social condition increasing in frequency and severity across Canada. Interventions to end and prevent homelessness include effective case management in addition to affordable housing provision. Little standardization exists for service providers to guide their decision making in developing and maintaining effective case management programs. The purpose of this two-part article is to articulate dimensions of p...
Publication Date: 2010
This purpose of this research is to understand how young adult homeless working men experience homelessness in an oil boom and prosperous city, Calgary, Alberta. Following a period of participant observation, five purposively selected working homeless men aged 20-28 years participated in in-depth individual interviews, which were initiated around their daily food routine. We found that the men experienced moderate to severe food insecurity and re...