Sunday, November 8, 2009

Community Based Research Tells Street Stories for Change


I recently came across this article in The University of Victoria Alumni Magazine,
Torch at http://web.uvic.ca/torch/torch2009f/feature_4.htm about Dr. Bernie Pauly and her community based research. Once again we learn how creative community based approaches and participative methods (story, photography, video) can help offer a place for human stories and lived experiences to be voiced and witnessed.CM

From the website:


"Since completing her PhD and joining the faculty of the School of Nursing, (Bernie) Pauly’s remained directly involved in homelessness: leading community-based research projects that engage community groups; playing an instrumental role in developing public policy, primarily through former mayor Alan Lowe’s 2007 Task Force on Homelessness; and currently as chair of the research and evaluation working group of the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness, which aims to end homelessness in the region by 2018."

"At the core of her approach to research Pauly tries “to understand the solutions from the perspective of people who have experienced homelessness. Because they have lived it.” A new community-based research project that she’s initiated — Street Stories — aims to do exactly that."

"A group of people who are, or have been, homeless will use photography and videotape to document their experiences and, essentially, create their own research data. Pauly hopes it will empower them to communicate the everyday challenges of being homeless."

Quotes from The University of Victoria Alumni Magazine, Torch, Autumn 2009,
Volume 30, Number 2