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Coming Together and Beyond: 
From a Single Arts-Based Research Project to an Arts-Informed
Community-Based Research Collaborative on Homelessness

Presented by: 
Izumi Sakamoto (University of Toronto Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social
Work), Julie Maher (Ontario Women's Health Network), & Jim Meeks (Street
Health)

Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 2:00-3:30pm
University College, U of T (15 King's College Circle) Room 248

In environmental health justice it is crucial to address/redress the
interlocking, oppressive conditions in society and promote the health and
well-being of individuals. Conducting community-based participatory research
with peer researchers using arts is one example of tackling this issue.
However, what do researchers do, after having conducted a community-based
research project and disseminated its results in various public and academic
venues, yet realizing that the recommendations the project put forward have
not been implemented?  This presentation traces the process of how an
individual arts-based research project ("Coming Together: Homeless Women,
Housing and Social Support") came to collaborate with seven other
community-based, arts-informed participatory research projects to raise
awareness and mobilize knowledge to address issues of homelessness in
Toronto.  We observed that the results from arts-based research and
community-based research studies too often are only appreciated as "local"
knowledge without much transferability to other settings.  However, working
with peer researchers, this innovative collaboration, "Homelessness -
Solutions from Lived Experiences through arts-Informed Research", aimed to
synthesize our collective knowledge, while creating broader collaborative
relationships toward more effective action and visibility of the issues. The
equitable and inclusive decision-making promoted by our policy report was
reflected within the process of collaboration itself by allowing space and
time for diverse perspectives and by mediating some of the obvious power
imbalances that existed among team members.  In this presentation, the
process and outcomes of the collaborative efforts (collaborative exhibit,
policy recommendation report, website) and its rewards and challenges will
be discussed through the experiences of the members of the collaborative
research team, including peer researchers (researchers who have lived
experience of homelessness).  
Project partners: Regent Park Community Health Centre, Ontario Women's
Health Network, Street Health, Wellesley Institute, University of Toronto,
Ryerson University, York University, St. Michael's Hospital, Sistering - A
Woman's Place, and National Film Board of Canada Filmmaker-in-Residence
Program with St. Michael's Hospital.  





Centre for Urban Health Initiatives (CUHI)
University College, Room 259
University of Toronto
www.cuhi.utoronto.ca

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