During the 2014 Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness conference in Vancouver, a group of individuals came together with a common goal: to ensure that individuals with lived experience received equitable representation from service providers, researchers, policy makers, and others, so that they can better understand and tackle the problem of homelessness.
To that end, the Lived Experience Action Council was formed. Their first action was to articulate principles for the inclusion and leadership of people with lived experience in organizations and initiatives that aim to address homelessness. They have created a document outlining these principles titled “Seven principles for leadership and inclusion of people with lived experience of homelessness.“
Their hope is that this document can provide support to professionals and people with lived experience as we all work together to plan and implement these changes.