She They Us Podcast

In the Season 2 premiere of She. They. Us., host Andrea Reimer explores ongoing housing challenges for women and gender-diverse people in Canada. We start this season with some good news about Neha, a human rights-based housing review panel established by the National Housing Council. To understand why this matters so much, we will talk to advocates Arlene Hache and Stefania Seccia from the Women’s National Housing & Homelessness Network and Margaret Wanyioke, who shares her family’s harrowing journey to safe housing. We will also check in with Pan-Canadian Voice for Women’s Housing founder Janice Abbott.

Guests: Janice Abbott, Arlene Hache, Stefania Seccia, Margaret Wanyioke

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One paradox of the housing crisis is that governments are good at creating complexity, but not at solving it. Ashley, a community advocate in North Bay, Ontario shares her struggle to afford housing despite full-time work. Journalist Frances Bula explains how decades of policy decisions and underinvestment led to today’s crisis. Former Chief Innovation Fellow for Canada Mike Moffatt reflects on the challenges of addressing complex problems within Canada’s equally complex federal government.

Guests: Frances Bula, Ashley Di Benedetto, Dr. Mike Moffatt

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In this episode of She. They. Us., we shift from federal policy to Vancouver, one of Canada’s most expensive cities. Jill Atkey of BC Non-Profit Housing Association, former mayor Gregor Robertson, and Lisa Guerin—who once lived in supportive housing and now manages it—discuss how local decisions, including a pause on new supportive housing, are affecting the health, safety, and dignity of people at the frontlines of the housing crisis.

Guests: Jill Atkey, Gregor Robertson, Lisa Guerin

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

Guests: Jesse Jenkinson

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In this episode, we explore the urgent need for trans-inclusive housing in Canada through the powerful stories of Jodi Gray and Martha Singh Jennings. Jodi shares her journey from unsafe housing to managing Aoki Ross House – Canada’s only supportive housing project for trans and gender diverse people – while Martha highlights specific challenges facing trans and queer newcomers experienced through her work with the 519.

Guests: Jodi Gray, Martha Singh Jennings

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In the Season 2 finale of She. They. Us. guests from all the episodes this season share their hopes and dreams for housing including Gregor Robertson, now federal Minister of Housing, who outlines an ambitious federal housing plan. We also meet Annika and Cheyanne from 100 More Homes Penticton who point the way to what community-driven progress for households led by women and gender-diverse people can look like. 

Guests: Margaret Wanyioke, Lisa Guerin, Janice Abbott, Ashley DiBennetto, Jill Atkey, Gregor Robertson, Annika Kirk, Cheyanne Fath, Arlene Hache

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When you think about the housing crisis what’s the image that comes to mind and who is in that image? We’ve been spending a lot of time in Canada talking about a housing crisis over the past few years but not a lot of time talking about what that means, or who it’s really impacting. In episode 1 we unpack who is losing in the housing crisis, the surprising winners and why you should care.

Guests: Janice Abbott , Nathan Lauster, Rowan Burdge, Alina Mackay, Victoria Barclay, Carolyn Whitzman

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For renters the housing crisis has been hard, and for women who rent it’s been harder still. We’ll hear from Hilary Chappel and Heather Hanninen Fairbairn about their experiences trying to hold on to housing and stay in your community when you’re on a fixed income and the rents keep going up.

Guests: Hilary Chappel, Heather Hanninen Fairbairn

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If it’s hard for governments to see the experiences of women in the housing crisis, it’s harder still for them to see the challenges women with intersectional identities have to deal with. We will talk to Alina Mackay and Victoria Barclay on the Finding Rooms for Families research project, and hear from Lori Deets and Khristine Cariño about their experiences.

Guests: Alina Mackay, Victoria Barclay, Lori Deets, Khristine Cariño

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Gender-diverse people in Canada face discrimination in many aspects of their lives and this all collides in a housing crisis in difficult and often dangerous situations. We will talk to Aaron Munro, a counselor and housing advocate for trans, gender-diverse and two-spirit people, and hear from Avery Shannon about what it’s been like for them to  navigate a world still coming to grips with gender diversity during a housing crisis.

Guests: Aaron Munro, Avery Shannon

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Trans women experience high levels of both poverty and violence, two of the biggest factors in determining whether you are likely to be in housing crisis. Trans and housing rights activist Susan Gapka shares her story of the long road she’s had to take to find a safe place to call home, even as she won protections and rights for others, and we’ll hear from Aaron Munro about how women’s organizations can provide safer spaces for trans women.

Guests: Aaron Munro, Susan Gapka

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You can’t talk about women, gender-diverse people and housing without talking about gender-based violence. But you also can’t talk about violence without talking about solutions for safe and affordable housing for survivors. We’ll talk to Cindy Chiasson from Betty’s Haven in the Yukon and Michaela Mayer at the Canadian Centre for Women’s Empowerment, learn about the experiences of newcomers facing intimate partner violence from Sara Eftekar and hear from Syreeta Moore about what it is like to have to make the choice between violence and poverty.

Guests: Carolyn Whitzman, Cindy Chiasson, Michaela Mayer, Sara Eftekar, Syreeta Moore

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Over the past six episodes we’ve heard about how much harder it is for women and gender-diverse people to find safe, affordable and appropriate housing. In the last two episodes of this series we will be looking at solutions that specifically acknowledge these challenges and show how women across the country have been mobilizing their resources to create change.

Guests: Carolyn Whitzman, Alina Mackay, Victoria Barclay, Irene Gannitsos, Carla Guerrera, Krista Pilz

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In this final episode we will look at the most powerful tool we have to make room for women and gender-diverse people in housing in Canada, and how you can find it and use it.

Guests: Krista Pilz, Melissa Campbell, Heather Hanninen Fairbairn, Lori Deets, Sara Eftekar, Janice Abbott

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