
Research has taught us something about different experiences of homelessness. One word that comes up over and over again is violence1.
The purpose of this post is to report two examples of work that help to make the experience of homelessness safer for women and gender diverse people.
One comes from London Ontario, where a Housing First2 program has been created specifically for homeless women engaged in survival sex. It is called Street Level Women at Risk. It has been in operation for seven years and has assisted 50 people engaged in survival sex to move to permanent housing with support.
The collaboration is supported by a Women’s Advisory Group, which provides ongoing advice on how to make the program work for the women it intends to help. All members of the Women’s Advisory Group have experience of homelessness and survival sex.
The collaborators in Street Level Women at Risk strongly believe their program can be replicated in other communities. They have produced a step by step guide to help get started and which is posted here: Street Level Women at Risk
The second story comes from Hamilton Ontario, where a safe drug use space (the project) for homeless women. In its first year of operation, 200 people have used the program.
The project was designed to prevent overdoses and drug poisonings. Trained staff are on site to supervise use and intervene with treatment when there are signs or symptoms of overdose or poisoning.
The Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network recently hosted a webinar about the safe use space. In the webinar, the project’s medical supervisor and the project manager discuss the value of having peer workers. Peer workers have experience of homelessness and/or drug use. They make the space welcoming and safe for users. The peer workers also function in an advisory capacity to identify and sort out problems as they come up. In the first year of operation, the team has reversed 54 overdoses/poisonings. There have been zero calls to paramedics and zero calls to police for outside assistance.
The webinar is posted at the Homeless Hub: Creating a Safer Drug Use space at YWCA Hamilton
Footnotes
- Try: Violence And Women’s Experiences Of Homelessness
- For more on Housing First, try: Housing First – What Is It And How Does It Help To End Homelessness?