Transatlantic Exchange Day 1: Thinking about identity (while jet lagged)...

A quick update on my first day at The Downtown Women’s Centre as part of the Transatlantic Practice Exchange #homelesslearning.

One of my key learning objectives was to find out more about ways of building self-esteem and resilience in women who are chronically homeless. When I stepped into the Downtown Women’s Centre this morning, I didn’t have to look very far because I could see examples of this in action wherever I looked. An open plan dining area, chefs and volunteers busy in the kitchen, women sitting talking, not talking, resting, getting what they needed, whatever that was, and whatever was important for them. A tour of the onsite housing, where the majority of the women are housed revealed a beautiful library, and a community room furnished with comfy looking sofas and flowers (photos to follow – I was too stunned to take any today!). I also popped my head into the Learning Centre, where women can learn IT basics/use the computers as they require.

Still trying to take all this in, and whilst trying to ignore the creeping jet lag, I met with Joe and Dena, who worked on the Downtown Women’s Centre social enterprise and workforce development planning. The Downtown Women’s Centre’s social enterprise scheme, “Made” has a coffee shop and two stores selling handmade products made by the women, they also provide one on one counselling, a job training programme and transitional employment opportunities as part of their workforce development arm.  What struck me most here was the way that Jo and Dena described how the social enterprise/work development scheme had helped to change stereotypes and stigma around homeless women in the community, that by involving community members perceptions had started to change, and how the women involved have grown in confidence and self esteem.

It made me think of something one of my female clients said to me, something that I’ve heard from many female clients before, “Oh, I can’t do that, that’s for normal people”.  Stigma and shame seem to be interwoven into the female homeless experience, into their very identities. Their perceived failure to live up to traditional expectations of femininity, as homemakers, keepers and mothers almost seems to become part of them. As practitioners, we seem to spend so much time trying to support women with their internal struggle, their mental health and the trauma they have experienced, maybe sometimes we don’t see how far external perceptions impact on their sense of self and how the internal and external are inextricably linked. Many of the things I saw and heard at Downtown seemed to demonstrate this awareness, from the flowers in the community room, to the lengths gone to to change perceptions of homeless women in the community. This effort does the invaluable work of telling women that they are worth it, and that ‘normal’ is whatever they feel. An inspiring day! Bring on tomorrow….