‘Learning and Connecting’ about homelessness in later life

By Rachel Weldrick  

On August 12, 2021, the Homelessness Services Association of British Columbia (HSABC) hosted the final instalment of the Learn and Connect Series on Homelessness with a full-day event about seniors and homelessness. This event, hosted in partnership with several community organizations¹ and the Aging in the Right Place project, brought together persons with lived experience of homelessness, providers working in aging/homelessness/housing sectors, and other stakeholders to share experiences and perspectives on homelessness in later life. The goal of this event series is to facilitate learning and build capacity among service providers working in homelessness.  

Throughout the day, several themed sessions were hosted including sessions focused on lived/living expertise, policy issues/needs, and best practices. Experts and knowledge holders from a wide variety of organizations shared their work and discussed ongoing challenges related to service provision and sustainability. Meaningful and emotional stories were shared by individuals with lived experience of homelessness, reminding us that there is an immense diversity of experience when it comes to homelessness and aging, and that efforts must take this into account.

All sessions from this event were recorded and are now available to stream. If you are interested learning about issues related to homelessness, housing insecurity among older people, I would encourage you to visit HSABC’s website and watch the recordings from this event. Click here to access these recordings: Learn + Connect Series on Homelessness | Seniors (https://hsa-bc.ca/cgi/page.cgi/_evtcal.html?evt=245). While you’re there, you can also view recordings from the previous Learn + Connect events on homelessness related to: women; racialized, Black & people of colour; youth; Indigenous people; and people with disabilities.

¹ Hosted by HSABC in partnership with the Seniors Services Society of BC, Whole Way House Society, West End Seniors Network, United Way of the Lower Mainland, and the Aging in the Right Place Project.