Where this masters has been going.

Since November, I have facilitated three workshops, done more interviews, lost all my videos due to a failed drive, recovered them (thank God!) and started writing. If you go by word count, I’m about halfway through. It’s been a slog as the writing included my introduction and literature review which required looking all over the place for the bits of research I’d dug up over a period of 18 months and reconnecting it with links, etc. The next sections will flow more naturally, I believe. As part of getting this plane off the ground, I’ve had to write my 150–word abstract, so here it is. More will follow.

Abstract
The growing issue of homelessness in the Greater Vancouver region is being approached from many angles. However, there has not been a great deal of focus on how those living with homelessness are stigmatized and othered, and how that might be changed.

This paper looks at the issues of stigma around homelessness in the suburb of Maple Ridge, British Columbia. This community has been deeply divided on how to deal with homelessness. As a result, there is a marked rift between those who believe homelessness is a problem imported from other parts of the region, threatening safety in Maple Ridge, and those who see the people experiencing homelessness as legitimate citizens who must be treated with dignity and compassion.

This paper explores ways that community-based research — informing design-thinking-driven co-creation — might generate community-driven and community-championed solutions to the stigma around homelessness.

Keywords: Homelessness; Stigma; Design Thinking; Co-Creation; Community-Based Research