[homeles_ot-l] All Our Sisters

[Laura Shantz]

Good Morning,

I’m sending this e-mail to the ATEH listserv as well as to some folks who
I know personally who are engaged in (through lived experience, research,
advocacy, front-line work or any combination of these) and are passionate
about ending women’s homelessness as well as broader and related issues,
including women’s equality/rights; ending violence against women; action
research; safety for women in the sex trade; safe and affordable housing;
affordable and accessible services for women, including child care,
physical & mental health services, basic needs, basic income, and
recreation, among others; as well as the many other wonderful programs
that we use/need/support in our daily lives.

I had the privilege to attend and present at the All Our Sisters/Toutes
Nos Soeurs conference in London, Ontario this spring.  The conference
focused on women’s homelessness in a holistic fashion, examining pathways
into and out of homelessness, the good work that is currently underway
across Canada on this cause, and what can be done to advance a national
housing strategy.  The conference featured a variety of presentations and
created an atmosphere of equality and support, where all delegates –
including those with lived experience – were equal participants who came
together to share their stories and experiences, learn from one another
and work towards making change for women across Canada.  More information
can be found at http://www.alloursisters.ca.

At the conference, the organizers indicated that they hoped the momentum
that was generated during the three days that the participants spent
together would continue and grow.  Part of this was a wish that the
conference would be repeated in a few years’ time in another city.  Ever
since the conference, I’ve been thinking about this and believe that the
spirit and energy necessary to carry off this endeavour can be found in
Ottawa.  I’m sending out this note today to try to gauge the support for
this idea and determine if there is enough community interest to attempt
to bring the conference to Ottawa sometime in the future (likely 2013 or
2014).  For this to happen, there would need to be many individuals who
are interested in and committed to the cause and who are willing to share
their thoughts, ideas, and time to make this happen.  While the support of
the organizations and groups working in Ottawa on these issues would be
appreciated and will be paramount, this should not be a cause that is
“driven” (in all senses of the word) by organizations; rather, individuals
from all fields (lived experience, advocacy, research, front-line service)
will need to collaborate to make this possible.

If you are interested in finding out more, or would like to receive
further updates about this cause, please e-mail me at lshan013 at uottawa.ca
and indicate your interest.  If there appears to be a strong interest, I
will try to arrange a get-together of some sort so that we can start to do
more with these ideas than just kick them around by ourselves.

Best regards,
Laura Shantz