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New project proposed to start conversations, solutions on rural homelessness

Stories on homelessness

Everyone has a story when it comes to the effect of homelessness.

And those stories could help form a nexus of knowledge to help address the complex puzzle which is rural homelessness in the regional district.

A three-year study on gathering stories of homelessness — from the perspective of local governments, residents, homeless, business owners and service providers — is being proposed by Selkirk College’s Selkirk Innovates.

Faculty researcher Jayme Jones said Stories to Solutions would use “participatory narrative inquiry to gather and make sense of stories of experiences from all perspectives, collaboratively finding and supporting actionable solutions” to rural homelessness in the West Kootenay region.

“Homelessness continues to be an issue in our region,” she said recently in a presentation to the Regional District of Central Kootenay board of directors.

As the current project, Bridging Rural Homelessness and Well-being: A Sustainable and Collaborative, wraps up later this year, Selkirk Innovates is looking to continue the conversation with the Stories project, said Jones.

“It builds on the relationships, momentum and learning from current regional project ending in 2025,” she said. “(Stories) is a new three-year project using an innovative methodology addressing the needs of the region … and allows the region to continue collaborating on rural homelessness response. It’s complex … because there are so many perspectives, so many interlocking pieces.”

She asked the RDCK board to consider signing on again as a partner, which it did in the initial homelessness project, to keep the momentum of the research. No decision was given at the time of the presentation, but will be re-visited with a motion in a future board meeting.

Discussing the narrative

Using participatory narrative inquiry (PNI), the project would gather stories from all perspectives, said Jones.

PNI helps determine what interventions or actions have the best chance of moving forward and creates conditions for community-supported evidence-based decision making.

“Through this process it will allow us to collaboratively find and support actionable solutions to rural homelessness that works in our context,” she said.

The objectives of the project would be: to gather and work with stories of lived-experiences; foster authentic and ethical participation for all; strengthen relationships; build regional capacity through college resources; and share lessons learned.

“Stories are a powerful way for us to communicate our experiences and values; it helps us understand what our situation is,” Jones explained. “Stories also helps decision making with pattern finding, with lots of opportunities to address stigma.”

Through the gathering of stories the project researchers could pull out patterns that could lead to solutions. It would allow the researchers to see what worked and what did not work.

If it secures funding, the project would start in September.



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