Season 2 Episode 4

Please be advised that the topics discussed in this series can be challenging to listen to and explore topics of homelessness, abuse, torture, transphobia, racism, and drug use. Please take care while listening.

When women and gender-diverse people don’t have access to safe housing, and they face violence sleeping outside, where do they end up?

In Ontario, non-urgent Emergency Room visits among unhoused individuals during winter rose by 24% across the province since 2018. In Toronto specifically, it rose by 68%. In the same period there was no increase of those who were housed coming to the ER for non-urgent visits.

In this episode of She. They. Us., we talk to researcher Jesse Jenkinson with Toronto’s MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions about the skyrocketing numbers of people accessing health care resources for shelter, the stress it's putting on people and systems, and the shocking results for women and gender-diverse people.

Meet Our Guests in Order of Appearance

• Jesse Jenkinson, Senior Research Associate & Adjunct Scientist, Map Center for Urban Health Solutions

About your host

Andrea Reimer is a Housing Advocate and former politician. In 2008, Andrea was elected as a City Councillor for the City of Vancouver, and served in that role for ten years. Since 2019, she has been an Adjunct Professor at University of British Columbia’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. In her teen years, Andrea experienced homelessness and has been a public voice within the housing crisis for the last two decades.

Additional Resources from this Episode

We've gathered the resources from this episode into one helpful list:

Season 1 of She. They. Us.: https://pcvwh.ca/she-they-us/she-they-us-podcast/

Pan-Canadian Voice for Women’s Housing: https://pcvwh.ca/

Map Center for Urban Health Solutions: https://maphealth.ca/

Unfortunately, there is not a national crisis line in Canada for survivors of gender based violence. But you can find provincial crisis lines and other resources at this link: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/stop-family-violence/services.html

#housing #housingcrisis #canada