Changing perspectives

By Karen Cook

When she started her nursing education, Alison George thought the operating room might be her ultimate destination, but an emotional winter practicum and a summer research position with The Salvation Army’s Centre of Hope turned her toward the community.

“I was at a pediatric lecture and our sessional instructor, Gayle Rutherford came into class and offered an opportunity for five students to self-select for their upcoming community placement at the Centre of Hope,” says George, BN'00. “After class, I immediately went to the computer and emailed her that I wanted one of those five places.”

The practicum involved assessing the basic needs of homeless women at the centre and whether or not those needs were being met.

“The women were skeptical of us; I think they thought we were going to come in and try to tell them what they should be doing. But we learned from them. They have to be so strong to get along on the street and they’re trying their hardest on a daily basis to get food and shelter for their families. And as women, they’re extremely vulnerable. When they were finally willing to tell us about their lives, I felt that, as a nurse, I had to help.”

The next step for George was to get involved with the Faculty of Social Work’s Christine Walsh, who was the principal investigator for the project Home: Perspectives of Women who are Homeless—recently showcased at the EVDS Gallery. Walsh’s study, conducted through People + Place, a partnership of the faculties of environmental design and social work and within the university’s Downtown Community Initiative, explores the unique perspectives of homeless women in Calgary on their living situation.

“There’s research into the pathways into homelessness, but not so much about exiting,” George describes. “Women were recruited from the Salvation Army, CUPS and from the Drop-In Centre to participate in expressing their view of home through creative writing and digital storytelling, images taken with a disposable camera and through design charettes. The women first sketched their ideal home and then, using graham crackers, marshmallows and frosting, ‘built’ it.

“I think the women had a lot of fun with that one in particular, but it was really revealing,” says George. “They included things like solar power and sustainability in their designs, lakes and kayaks to be in touch with nature and their communities were in circles for protection.”

The results of the study illuminated the vastly different challenges homeless women face in comparison to their male counterparts. Their needs for emergency and transitional housing, services and programs, and the safety issues of living in large shelters designed for men are all concerns specific to women. These and other results from the study will be used to develop solutions to enable women to move toward stable housing.

“It was a very intense project for these women, but I’m so proud of them and what they've accomplished and how, through showing the grit of their lives, they'll make a difference,” says George.

Rutherford, a co-investigator of the Home study, is confident George will also be someone who makes a difference. She echoes Alison’s words about the strength of the women and how much everyone has learned from and with them throughout these experiences. “One of the greatest joys in working with students is to see the growth and insight that comes when working in this type of setting with this population,” Rutherford says. “It has been a great pleasure for me to work with Alison throughout her journey and to learn and grow with her.”

For George, the experiences in her final year in nursing have forever altered her ideas about being a nurse. “I just wouldn’t be the nurse I am if I hadn’t done this. It has made me realize there’s so much more to nursing. The noble part of nursing is empowering people to create change and this has opened my eyes to that. Community is my calling.”

In 2006, the City of Calgary estimated there were 3,426 homeless individuals in Calgary, 22 percent were women.