Many losses in homelessness. Being human is not one of them.

Meaghan Bell and Nicole Jackson, work every week with the CHF Client Advisory Committee to ensure the critical client voice that measures the ‘on the street’ impact of the work we do has a place to be heard and acknowledged. Recently, Meaghan and Nicole invited the members of the Committee to give a noon-hour presentation on their recent findings from a Community Consultation they held to gather community feedback on the updating of the 10 Year Plan.

Of the five members of the committee who came to present, one is still living in shelter, with another individual in transitional housing waiting for a placement in permanent housing. Two of the individuals found housing through their own efforts with one being housed through CHF programming. However, one individual’s program was ending which means he is again working with an agency to secure new housing. The other is a senior who is currently on a waitlist for affordable housing as spending 60% of her income on housing is taxing her limited resoures. It is, she said, an aspect of life that is not uncommon for seniors living in poverty.

Throughout their presentation, the group was articulate, organized and passionate. Most of them have worked with the Committee for a year or more and care deeply about their peers whom they represent. This was poignantly apparent when one of the presenters talked about some of the responses attendees at the Community Consultation had written on the sheets that asked the question, “Who are you?”

“They answered, mother, father, artist, carpenter, kind, hard-working, and then one person wrote, ‘I am a human being’,” one presenter commented, obviously distressed by the answer. “Why does anyone have to write that they are a human being? Aren’t we all?”

“Several people wrote that,” another presenter chimed in.

We all share a desire to be heard, to be seen, to be known. Within homelessness however, there is often a feeling of being dehumanized, less thank, invisible.  

It is a sad reality of homelessness. The very condition that we all share, our being human, is what people often feel they lose in this place called homeless.

No matter the condition of their lives, each individual is working with the Advisory Committee to give back, to make a difference, to make life better for others. They didn’t rant and rave about the injustice of the homeless condition, they didn’t strike out against government and agencies and their fellow man. They spoke up for dignity, human caring, the right of every individual to be treated with respect, consideration and fairness.

Matt Vermunt, CHF Manager of Acquisitions and & Developments spoke for everyone present when he said, “You have helped make me become better at my job, and you’ve helped me be a better human being,” he said.

We all have a story. We all have wounds we carry close to our hearts, hurts and pains we harbour beneath our skin. Homeless or housed, we are all the same kind of different in our being human. 

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Art Smith Awards — Well earned recognition

For individuals working on the front-line of homelessness, recognition can be hard to come by. The successes are often private, while failures can often be public. Now more than ever, it has become increasingly important to tell the stories of these individuals. Not because they need it, but because they deserve it.

On March 6th, the Calgary Homeless Foundation (CHF) hosted the 7th Annual Arthur Smith Awards, which recognize staff and volunteers who exemplify excellence in providing housing with support to vulnerable people in Calgary. The recipients are nominated by colleagues or peers in the community with letters of support from partnering agencies or in some cases, directly from the people they have supported over the years.

I was lucky enough to see the whole process unfold. I was asked to sit on the CHF staff selection committee. I carefully read each application. I was moved by the words and thoughts expressed in each application, telling very personal stories of hope, compassion and commitment. The staff committee (it was hard as each was so deserving) selected the top three nominees from each category – frontline, volunteer and team. From there, the final selection was made by a committee of CHF Board members. The whole process culminated on March 6th with CHF hosting a lovely lunch event at the McDougall Centre where the awards were presented.

Recipients

Front-line Employee Award:

Cheryle Sklapsky, Keys to Recovery

The Front-line Team Award:

Sunalta Lodging House Team, Alpha House Society

Volunteer Award:

Harry and Irene Simmelink, Sonshine Community Services

Each recipient was introduced by the individual who nominated them. For me, a common thread throughout the speeches was how each recipient went above and beyond to help those in need. Whether it’s sitting outside the apartment of a woman in emotional pain until she comes out to talk, making a dinner for a group of men to share a meal in their new home, or holding a woman and her children staying at second-stage domestic violence shelter, each recipient was commended for looking beyond the issue, listening without prejudice and providing a glimmer of hope.

Calgary’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness speaks to the principles of ‘person-centered’ case management and housing supports, but what does that really mean? On paper, it means “building a relationship with a vulnerable person without agenda or expectation” (Rogers 1979). Yet, in practice, especially for the recipients of the 2014 Art Smith Awards, it means thinking outside the box, being creative, and doing whatever it takes to help an individual become the best they can be.

“You can tell the character of the city by how they treat their most vulnerable populations”, said one woman at the event. For me, the Annual Art Smith Awards provide an incredible opportunity to recognize the successes of people on the front-line doing this amazing work, and even more, it can inspire others to join them in the journey to end homelessness.

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Adding the value of the lived experience

I graduated with my Masters in Public Policy not long ago. Among the most basic tenets of making good policy – making any good kind of decision, really – is asking the people who that policy will affect for their thoughts and contributions. There are lots of ways our sector talks about this – meaningful involvement, public consultations, community forums, roundtable discussions, client or peer-led initiatives – all of which are undertaken to consult and include people who are affected by the policies, projects and decisions in question.

But given the constantly changing landscape of homelessness in Calgary, where data is revealing new things, new projects are starting, existing programs are changing, the meaning of contribution and consultation becomes more of a process than a project. It’s not a one-time question posed to a group – it’s an ongoing, continual, iterative thing that requires constant attention.

The Client Action Committee at the Calgary Homeless Foundation was started in July 2012, as a part of the work of the Policy and Research Team. The group’s stated aim is “to engage a diverse group of individuals with lived experience of homelessness in discussions related to research priorities and implementation of strategies for Calgary’s 10 Year Plan. Opportunities are provided to share stories and develop, carry out and take part in research projects.”

And that’s what we do – each week, we take over the foundation’s boardroom with our papers, our coffee, and our stories from the week. We check in with each other, get updates from each other about where people are living, how old friends are doing, what the rough moments of the week have been, where the victories are. And then we get to work.

Over 100 people have sat at this table – some only once, some for months at a time, and a handful since the very beginning. When people come to the table, they bring the sum of their experiences: here and elsewhere, housed and homeless.

Since the committee started, the work has included a wide range of projects and research activities – doing surveys in shelters, facilitating focus groups, coding transcripts, promoting and then hosting events, speaking to committees, boards, school classrooms and elsewhere, working on documentaries, and various writing exercises.

And each time we ask the committee for their help, they show up with a tenacity and enthusiasm that is humbling to me as a researcher. When we ask for their ideas, their priorities, what they would like to focus on, ideas come tumbling onto the table, informed by their own experience and that of their peers, all aimed at justice and inclusion for the street community.

The ideas, stories, experiences and battles of that committee get back to decision-makers in a handful of ways – through direct presentations and participation, reports and research – and often, through the people who have sat with client committee itself. We approach other tables bearing those stories, as yet another piece of evidence about what is working and what isn’t, where the gaps are, and what needs to be urgently pushed forward.Engaging

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