Many people in Canada have experience of being homeless.1 As a recent meeting hosted by the Canadian Lived Experience Leadership Network showed, leadership from people with direct personal experience has changed the way homelessness services are delivered in Canada. It also highlighted areas where Canada’s National Housing Strategy could be strengthened to be much more effective.
Four speakers reflected on how their experience had driven their personal path to leadership. They generously shared their experience, which provides insight in ways that numbers can’t reflect. In seeking to change their individual situation, they became advocates. They gained deep knowledge of what was working and what wasn’t. They saw that any commitment to ending homelessness would require changes in the country’s systems and structures. And they didn’t back away from that knowledge: they set out to change it.
We are living with the concrete results of their work. Canada has recognized the right to adequate housing. It is in the throes of creating a National Housing Council and choosing a Housing Advocate. “First voice” advocates (which is preferred over “people with lived experience”) have been critical to making these changes.
Recognizing that housing is a human right marks the beginning of a process to change structures and systems so that all residents may enjoy adequate housing. The Council and the Advocate are there to help shape the path. The meeting provided a forum to think about what needs to happen next, and to ground that thinking in the wisdom of experience. Here are a few of the ideas put forward that would improve Canada’s national housing strategy:
- seeking advice from first voice advocates in all aspects of the National Housing Strategy: research, policy design, program implementation, and monitoring,
- setting a standard of 50% representation by first voice advocates,
- establishing a principle of adequate compensation for participation, and
- centring the National Housing Strategy on the principle that housing ought not cost more than 30% of income.
For people who are interested in more ideas about how to do things differently, the Network’s website is a valuable resource: Bringing Perspective To Homelessness In Canada Through Lived Experience
Homelessness is not limited to Canada. Other resources are coming on line from other countries that provide further encouragement to heed the voice of experience. Here’s one from Ireland: Eoin Ó Broin: We can end homelessness but absolute reform of the system is required
Footnotes
- It’s an experience that is gradually being honoured, rather than vilified. Try: Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Remembering People Who Are Homeless
