Nova Scotia Community Housing Sector: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

THEMATIC BRIEF November 2021

Build Together: Strengthening the Community Housing Sector in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia Community Housing Sector: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion In the spring of 2021, the Build Together team facilitated a consultation process inviting members of the Community Housing Sector (CHS) to share their work, challenges and goals to improve access to safe, affordable and accessible housing in Nova Scotia. A Build Together Engagement Team was assembled, and an equity advisor was recruited to provide guidance. Approaching housing issues through an intersectionality lens was fundamental, as CHS participants are keenly aware of how racism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination compound the obstacles many people face in securing appropriate housing. Barriers to participation in consultation processes such as Build Together persist. Despite outreach efforts, First Voice accounts of housing issues from the lived experiences of African Nova Scotians and Persons of African Descent, Mi’kmaw and Indigenous, LGBTTQQIAAP, and Persons with Disability, among others, remained sparse.

“People on boards must they

This observation prompted a deeper and continuous process of look like the people learning among the Build Together team members to discuss and exist to serve” document how we enact the value of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in our work. We include the word “justice” to address an underlying tension of DEI. As long as inclusion is treated as token involvement in processes controlled by others, justice will not be achieved. For instance, the slogan “nothing about us without us” was adopted by the disability rights movement in the 1990s to address the very personal injustices affecting people who faced medical systems and institutions making decisions for them, including where they lived. Other populations have echoed this call for greater decision-making power over policies, programs and practices that affect their lives and well-being. We recognize, however, that the term justice itself can be problematic in racist and colonizing contexts where justice systems have been used to reproduce injustice. These are complex issues.

We followed up by contacting people for interviews and conversations, expanded the membership of the Engagement Team, and sought member assistance in extending outreach. Suggested strategies for participation included more one-on-one interviews, focus group meetings and sharing circle discussions. Yet, the conversations kept returning to the why of participation, which led us to delve into the underlying issue of inclusion of underrepresented groups in consultative processes.

Inclusion not Extraction: What is the value for the community?

The pandemic has placed an extra strain on people who work in “front line” services: simultaneously reaching out to community members who are facing greater need and doing so amid pandemic restrictions that make the job harder. People shared examples of their creative, but demanding, outreach activities to restore access to supports. This workload is compounded by the increased demand from community members who had not experienced housing vulnerability prior to the pandemic. For these people, “First voice requires participation in consultation processes has been described as a luxury. Therefore, any request for participation must be authentic engagement, considered carefully to ensure it does not interfere with the not tokenism. Too often critical work people are doing.

report backs are biased

In addition to time, trust is paramount in any meaningful in that they do not reflect consultation process. This concern was evident in the findings accurately what people from the CHS consultation participants, who expressed the importance of First Voice but remain skeptical when such inputted. Reports are participation is tokenistic. The Build Together team heard watered down.” numerous examples of extractive consultation processes where people representing marginalized groups were brought in to share their experiences but who saw little if any outcome from their efforts.

Intersectionality and Invisibility within the Sector Some of the people contacted are not representing “housing” groups per se, but inevitably this issue has become a priority in their work, given the implications of housing insecurity on people who are already marginalized by racism, homophobia, and other structural barriers. They may not see themselves as part of the CHS or a housing-focused group. For example, one respondent working with LGBTTQQIAAP communities says they are so isolated, there are no formal housing groups specifically representing this community. While a few housing groups in our survey included them in their description of specific communities served, a distinctive queer organizational voice appears to be absent in the CHS. We recognize a “chicken and egg” dilemma in which the Build Together team want to allow time and space for trust-building and the meaningful participation of “marginalized” groups to ensure their concerns are represented, while also meeting project goals within budgeted timeframes. How is authentic relationship building balanced with the time constraints people face and the assurances they seek that they are not wasting their time? Will participation in the process facilitate the realization of their own goals? How do we negotiate this?

Thematic Brief | Nova Scotia Community Housing Sector:Diversity, Equity and Inclusion | Page 2

Reflecting on the Learning Process We reflect on the values embedded in a diversity, equity and inclusion approach and how we can incorporate it in our day-to-day work. We identify methods to foster genuine engagement with underrepresented groups. This is relevant for our own evaluative process. We hope it may also contribute to the discussion with our colleagues throughout the CHS who have expressed the need for capacity building and awareness raising within the sector, with other non-profit and government service providers, policymakers, and in the “There is the broader community.

The following reflections were gathered through an internal learning process as well as input from the Build Together Engagement Team.

Weaving equity and inclusion into the project Reflective Practice and Project Management • Address diversity, equity and inclusion in every session to keep it at the forefront

importance of capturing the diverse experiences of populations we work with… (we are) participating with other groups that are so small they are not showing up in statistics”

• Be reflective, humble, and ask for help • Check in with team members and continue to ask who is missing • Add more time in the design process to develop a DEI strategy – revisit and adapt throughout the project • Examine language usage • Build relationships not projects - building relationships and trying to replicate the culturally relevant context in an online environment is challenging • Negotiate more project time with donors - standard project planning timeframes and budgets don’t facilitate or value the time needed to build meaningful relationships • Compensate people and groups for the time they contribute to initiatives

Engagement Team • Intentionally recruit people from underrepresented groups, including youth • Seek the right expertise, including DEI • Develop and implement a DEI strategy for all aspects of your work • Network with partner organizations and clients served to respectfully foster connections with underserved communities • Consider how the Engagement Team can strengthen the voice of marginalized groups in defining the future of the CHS

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Inclusive Community Process • Start with each community’s reality and experience and build from there • Engage underrepresented groups at the outset of planning - networking takes time and needs to be included to build relationships before the project, integrate pre-project funding in the design, and always ask what mechanisms are in place for people to be engaged and heard • Respect and honour community time and energy • Remember that projects don’t have to be done the way they have always been done • Link projects together for wider, longer, collective impact • Nurture relationships for ongoing engagement and future project development • Keep technology simple from the outset of the work • Ensure engagement teams are truly engaged in meaningful ways • Build capacity to work and negotiate with funders There is a need to continue to raise awareness and education related to what it means to engage underrepresented communities authentically in project design and implementation, from budgeting to who owns the outcomes of the project.

This must be done institutionally for people, programs and funders.

This series of thematic briefs draws upon what the Build Together team heard from the community housing sector in Nova Scotia through several consultations conducted in 2021.

This brief was written by Catherine Irving with input from Build Together team members.

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