Welfare Reform on the Web (August 2006): Homelessness - overseas

At the intersection of invisibilities: Canadian women, homelessness and health outside the “big city”

C. Whitzman

Gender, Place and Culture, vol.13, 2006, p.383-399

While popular images of homelessness continue to focus on older men with mental illness and/or addiction issues, the number of women without secure, affordable housing continues to rise. It is also incorrectly assumed that housing affordability crises are concentrated in the centres of large cities. There is also a tendency for health care services and practitioners to ignore the inter-related physical and emotional impacts of stress on women who make up the majority of the “hidden homeless”. The problem of women losing their accommodation in suburban, small city and rural settings remains invisible to policy makers outside of the local services struggling to meet their needs.

Care and the lives of homeless youth in neoliberal times in Canada

F. Klodawsky, T. Aubry and S. Farrell

Gender, Place and Culture, vol.13, 2006, p.419-436

Marginalised young people in Ottawa, Canada are exposed to high levels of family conflict and violence which result in less access to familial support and a greater likelihood of becoming homeless. State funding is focussed on programmes to improve employability, overlooking their needs for social and emotional care and support. This article presents a case study of the work of a community agency in Ottawa which offers a programme of activities aimed at promoting self-sufficiency alongside care and support in dealing with complex personal problems.