Whose voices do we hear?
By: Adrianda D.
Tags: British Columbia, Housing, Vancouver, Social Policy, Homelessness

Homelessness.

It’s a hot-button issue these days, whether during an election year or not. It’s apparent from observing the media that a variety of people have opinions about the issue: politicians, business associations, parents, non-profit executives, and academics, among many.

Some are empathetic and advocate for bold solutions to what is truly a humanitarian issue. A loud few are adamantly against providing any help. And some even louder groups think that building homes for the homeless in their neighbourhood is the “right idea, wrong location.”[1]

But, whose voices do we hear the least in this conversation?

People with lived experience of homelessness.

I truly believe that effective solutions to big societal problems are ones that center the lived experience of the people most affected. This is not a radical idea. In fact, meaningful participation of people directly affected by an issue in decision-making is supported by organizations like the World Health Organization[2], social researchers Michael Woodford & Susan Preston[3], and it is one of the core ethical principles of the National Association of Social Workers in the U.S[4].

On a personal level, this belief is rooted in my own experience as an immigrant: having to navigate complex government systems just to continue to live in a place I’ve called home for 10 years. This lengthy and stressful experience made me feel disempowered and fearful. And yet, immigration policy experts take up significant airtime, armed with numbers and facts about the issue but devoid of any direct experience of navigating the system they speak of. I often wonder how often they meaningfully consulted and listened to the stories and solutions of real-life migrants.

I can imagine people who know what it is to be homeless feel the same when it comes to housing policy.

We need to center the voices of people with lived experience of homelessness because, at the end of the day, stories are what move us to shift our perspective and to act. It is the just and equitable way of talking about the issue. I welcome the knowledge provided by academics and policy analysts. Their work provides crucial tools to advocate for real solutions. However, it is time to make a concerted effort to centre the expertise of people who are homeless in conversations that essentially are about their lives.

There are plenty of grassroots groups that are made of and led by people with lived expertise, such as Carnegie Community Action Project, Megaphone Magazine’s Speakers Bureau, and the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. These groups have generously organized public events and created reports including housing policy recommendations for all levels of government[5].

To start, we should/can read the reports and resources these organizations have made. Then, to honour their voices and act in solidarity with people who are homeless, we need to pressure policymakers to deeply listen and implement those policies. Once we centre the people most directly affected by homelessness, only then will we see real and effective solutions to this humanitarian problem.

[1] CBC News. “Residents protest proposed homeless housing project in Vancouver’s Marpole neighbourhood.” CBC.ca, November 6, 2017. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/residents-protest-proposed-homeless-housing-project-in-vancouver-s-marpole-neighbourhood-1.4389762

[2] World Health Organization. “Participation.” World Health Organization: Gender, equity and human rights. https://www.who.int/gender-equity-rights/understanding/participation-definition/en/

[3] Michael R. Woodford & Susan Preston. “Developing a Strategy to Meaningfully Engage Stakeholders in Program/Policy Planning: A Guide for Human Services Managers and Practitioner.” Journal of Community Practice, 19:2, 159–174.

[4] National Association of Social Workers. “Code of Ethics.” https://www.socialworkers.org/about/ethics/code-of-ethics/code-of-ethics-english

[5] Must-reads: “Red Women Rising: Indigenous Women Survivors in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside” by Carol Muree Martin & Harsha Walia from Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and “Displaced: Rents and the Rate of Change in the Downtown Eastside” by Fiona York, King-Mong Chan, Lama Mugabo, and Elli Taylor from Carnegie Community Action Project.

For Megaphone Magazine’s Speakers Bureau events, go to http://speakersbureau.megaphonemagazine.com/