Update from Julia

By admin on July 28, 2008 | Filed Under News

2008 has been a very busy year so far. I have spent the last five months in Inuvik and Yellowknife, conducting fieldwork for my doctoral research which forms part of the GAPS project. My research looks at the relationship between housing insecurity and homelessness in the Northwest Territories and how this relationship is affected by economic growth brought about through resource development. To understand the housing insecurity-homelessness relationship, participants are asked to discuss what makes them feel ‘at home’ in a place and what makes them feel not ‘at home’. This discussion helps to create a better sense of what is needed to build housing security and, conversely, what creates housing insecurity.

Research has been going very well, with a great deal of interest and participation from community members. Community organizations such as the Inuvik Homeless Shelter, Inuvik Interagency Committee members, Yellowknife Homelessness Coalition members, and the Centre for Northern Families have provided an incredible amount of support and input over the course of this project. It has indeed been a collaborative effort. I would like to say a big “Mahsi Cho!”, “Quyanainni!”, and “Thank you!” to these groups and individuals.

In the fall, I will conduct fieldwork in the community of Paulatuk to get a sense of how these issues within the context of a small, settlement community and how they connect with housing insecurity and homelessness in larger centres. Without a doubt, homelessness in the territory is the result of a complex web of factors that link communities together. For example, homelessness in Yellowknife can be reflective of issues in much smaller, remote communities. Homelessness is a territory-wide issue.

Of incredible importance are the two research assistants who have provided a great deal of help and support to this project. Kate Snow, an Inuvik high school student, worked closely with me on that portion of the project. Currently, I am working with Gilly McNaughton, a local student and youth worker, here in Yellowknife.

- Julia Christensen
Inuvik & Yellowknife, NT

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