Using Community-Engaged Arts-Based Methods to Explore Housing Insecurity in Rural-Urban Spaces

Authors

  • Laura Pin Wilfrid Laurier University
  • Tobin LeBlanc Haley Univeristy of New Brunswick
  • Leah Levac University of Guelph

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15402/esj.v10i2.70849

Keywords:

homelessness, digital storytelling, Arts-based methods, point-in-time count, rural-urban, critical arts-based methods, community-engaged research

Abstract

This article explores how community-engaged, art-based research methods can enrich our understanding of homelessness, with a specific focus on housing insecurity in rural urban communities. Drawing on a digital storytelling project in Dufferin County, Ontario, involving twelve storytellers- ten with lived experience of homelessness - we explore the complexities of homelessness that are often neglected in official narratives of housing and home. We argue that the dominant methods of documenting homelessness - enumeration through point-in-time (PiT) counts - provide a limited understanding of homelessness and can contribute to the invisibility of these problems in rural-urban spaces. We explore how a participant-led critical engagement can help make visible experiences of housing insecurity as a form of homelessness, and direct focus to the intersection of individual circumstances with structural factors, pointing to key areas for policy change.

Author Biographies

Laura Pin, Wilfrid Laurier University

(she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her research and teaching focuses on community-engaged approaches to public policy, especially in the areas of housing policy, local government, and social policy. Email: lpin@wlu.ca 

Tobin LeBlanc Haley, Univeristy of New Brunswick

(she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social Science at the University of New Brunswick and the co-director of the Housing, Moblization and Engagement -Research Lab. She is a community-engaged, social policy scholar who works at the intersection of housing, disability and poverty. 

Leah Levac, University of Guelph

(she/her) is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Critical Community Engagement and Public Policy (Tier 2) at the University of Guelph in the Department of Political Science. Her research and teaching focus on community engaged scholarship, intersectionality and policymaking, particularly in local policy and federal impact assessment policy. 

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Published

2024-08-21

How to Cite

Pin, L., LeBlanc Haley, T., & Levac, L. (2024). Using Community-Engaged Arts-Based Methods to Explore Housing Insecurity in Rural-Urban Spaces. Engaged Scholar Journal: Community-Engaged Research, Teaching, and Learning, 10(2), 23–41. https://doi.org/10.15402/esj.v10i2.70849