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Publication Date: 2015
Low-income preseniors represent a vulnerable, often overlooked population facing multiple challenges related to finding and sustaining employment, limited financial resources, mental and physical health challenges, mobility issues, and ineligibility for pensions and benefits for seniors. These issues make finding suitable, affordable housing particularly challenging when compounded with limited affordable housing stock, thus increasing this popul...
Publication Date: 2015
The objective of this study was to explore housing insecurity among women newcomers to Montreal, Canada. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 newcomer women who had experienced housing insecurity and five women’s shelter service providers. The primary cause of housing insecurity for newcomer women was inadequate income in the face of rapidly rising housing costs, coupled with unfamiliarity with the dominant culture and the local hous...
Publication Date: 2012
The focus of this article is on the use of found poetry as a tool in qualitative research to examine the experience of precarious housing and homelessness among immigrant women in Montreal. Immigrant and refugee women exhibit greater risk for homelessness than women in general or male newcomers due to higher rates of poverty. Yet little is known about migrant women’s experiences of homelessness and less is available from their own perspective, sp...
Publication Date: 2014
This study examined 76 female homeless shelter consumers’ accounts of their experiences with homelessness and shelter life to determine the role spirituality played in their lives. The themes represented in women’s narratives: religiosity, identity, and connection to others were closely aligned to themes identified in feminist literature comprising women’s spirituality. Women in the study elaborated on themes identified by feminist scholars with...
Publication Date: 2014
This paper explores the cycling between incarceration and homelessness among 18 women in Calgary, Alberta and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan employing community based research and arts-based research. Women who participated in the study highlighted the personal obstacles and societal barriers encountered before and after incarceration while identifying gaps in services. The objectives of the research were four fold: (1) to more fully understand the...
Publication Date: 2010
This study reports on the needs of impoverished and homeless women in Canada related specifically to a broad range of shelter characteristics. The findings highlight multiple factors to consider related to aspects of shelter site, situation, and service. Recommendations are made for shelter operators, urban planners, and policy makers to better meet the unique needs of women utilizing shelter services.
Publication Date: 2011
Aboriginal women have higher rates of homelessness than non-Aboriginal women and they are overrepresented in the prison population. Those who are homeless are at increased risk for incarceration; equally, those just released from prison are particularly vulnerable to homelessness. In this paper we review the historical context and the literature on homelessness and incarceration among Aboriginal women, and summarize best practices or promising pr...
Publication Date: 2011
“Housing First” has been widely promoted as the best practice for homeless populations. Many communities are currently shifting towards this method of service delivery in an effort to reduce the rapidly growing homeless population. Research supports that women, the fastest growing sub-population of the homeless, have unique needs in terms of shelter and services in transitioning from homelessness to home. Yet little research has been conducted to...
Publication Date: 2008
People are homeless due to a complex series of factors. Evidence points to the association between homelessness and individual factors, including lack of education, mental illness, addictions, and poverty, and community factors such high unemployment. Yet within the current context of rapid economic growth and low unemployment in Calgary, Canada, homelessness is increasing. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand inner city...
Publication Date: 2009
We employed participatory, community-based research methods to explore the perceptions of home among women who are homeless. Twenty women engaged in one or more techniques including qualitative interviews, digital story telling, creative writing, photovoice, and design charrette to characterize their perceptions of home. Analysis of the data revealed themes related to the physical, affective, and external environment. By understanding how parti...
Publication Date: 2009
Relationships, and the establishment of them, are a fundamental component of our work in community whether in service-learning settings or in conducting communitybased research. Yet, seldom do we articulate how we develop, negotiate, maintain, and manage or even understand these interactions. Reflection, a critical and necessary component underlying community-based practice, can be used to explore these aspects. In this paper we present the refle...
Publication Date: 2010
In 2007, a community-university partnership involving a large inner-city homeless shelter coordinated the study, Home: Perspectives of women who are homeless. The primary objective was to explore the meaning of home among women who are homeless in order to inform the development of transitional shelters. The theoretical framework was feminist informed community-based research (CBR). In addition to qualitative interviewing, multiple qualitative da...
Organization: Action Research
Publication Date: 2010
In post-secondary curricula, the introduction of research paradigms that emphasize community inclusion and social action is increasingly valued by scholars. However, there is only a modest amount of scholarship regarding how the delivery of such material should be structured, or the challenges and/or successes with various course models. In this article the authors synthesize the existing literature on developing and implementing courses on alter...
Publication Date: 2010
Women confront unique challenges when faced with homelessness, not the least of which is negotiating how to express their sexuality. Research has tended to look at the sexuality of women who are homeless pathologically, yet in housed women a healthy sex life is an important predictor of happiness and well-being. The complex relationship between health and sexuality is significant, yet under-researched for women experiencing poverty and homelessne...