This paper reports the qualitative findings from homeless families residing in a shelter at the time of data collection who participated in focus groups. The qualitative findings revealed that there are certain pathways most families pass through, leading to homelessness as well as strategies for dealing with family homelessness. These pathways involve four major themes, which include: 1) life challenges; 2) lack of understanding of the system; 3) existing power differentials, and 4) escaping from hardship. An illustrative diagram of the pathways to family homelessness is presented in Fig. 1 below:
Theme I- life challenges
Participants’ expressions during focus group discussions were primarily predisposing psycho-socioeconomic difficulties that could be exacerbated by having limited knowledge of systems, structures, and regulations, or limited conflict resolution skills. Families may not know how to navigate the systems, structures, and rules around them, or may perceive themselves as having limited options to change their circumstances. Participants identified the following life challenges:
Mental health issues
Some participants disclosed that they had issues with mental illness. According to them, their illness caused them to either become unemployed or spend a lot of money daily, leading them to becoming bankrupt.
A participant shared this viewpoint:
With depression, for instance, people that are depressed tend to go out and spend money on say like fast food because it’s too much to cook or to buy stuff for their kids because they are outside… bad credit. I had great credit, I ended up having a nervous breakdown and couldn’t work for a while, and all bills got backed up and never been able to catch up. And so that’s all because of what happened as a child with abuse and sexual abuse.
Lack of social support
Some participants were not very happy with the lack of support in the social domain. They expressed that in the absence of close relatives, no one from the community was ready to assist them in meeting their rent requirements. Some experienced severe distress as a result. During focus groups, participants intimated “A lot of people can’t get guarantors if they don’t have family. When they come from no one and have nothing, how are you supposed to get anything at all?” “They told us at the housing building – that had everything that we need, and then they turned around and told us that we never gave them everything needed and that’s why we were kicked out”.
Low income
Financial problems seem to lead a lot of participants into homelessness. This was expressed by most participants. For instance, the following individual said:
So like for me it’s recognizing that yeah your bills need to be paid and I don’t always do that because we don’t necessarily have all the money for the stuff that they want, which just furthers the poverty and homelessness.
Inadequate budgeting
Some participants felt their actions and inactions might have contributed to homelessness. They believed inadequate planning of their finances underwrote their current state of homelessness. For instance, this participant hinted “Well yah, it [inadequate budgeting] would affect your credit for certain, because if you don’t manage finances because you are not in the proper education to know how to do that then that can contribute”.
Unemployment and cycle of poverty
Joblessness was widely linked to clients’ cycle of poverty. They believed that having a low level of education affected employment opportunities available for them, thus, culminating in homelessness. A participant disclosed:
Well if you don’t have at least one year of any type of postsecondary now it is very hard to get a good paying job. You are in jobs that are geared towards teenagers, they are minimum wage, low paying and you can never get further ahead.
Another participant said, "So people that have grown up in poverty tend to raise their kids in poverty and the cycle continues and there has to be a way to [dealing with it]”.
Theme II- lack of understanding of the system
The study participants explained that their lack of understanding of certain structural factors and situations put them at risk of homelessness: These factors included lack of awareness of the rental system and issues with social assistance.
Lack of awareness of rental system
Some participants felt that a lack of knowledge about rules and processes governing rent led to their homelessness. While some participants blamed the shelter staff for not informing them about the existence of rent banks (Canadian homelessness prevention service that provides interest-free loans to at risk low-income households to pay for specific things for housing stability such as rent or utilities in arrears). In addition, most participants complained of unreasonable rent requirements from landlords. For instance, a participant intimated that a landlord required her to provide up to date monthly child social benefit (baby bonus) slips or receipts that they have been getting from the government. They believe the actions of these landlords made it difficult for them to rent a place due to the high cost and associated challenging demands. A female participant disclosed:
I’ve been at shelter for almost a month, and I’ve viewed maybe 25 apartments, and I finally found one. They told me, ‘you need to bring in your baby bonus slips to know how much you’re getting’. I didn’t do that and I didn’t know that before, I mean, rent’s $850 … my cheque’s $950, so the landlord’s looking at ‘So you’re going to have $100 to live off at a month’, not even thinking that I need to hand in all my other income in order to know that I’m getting more income, but just that they don’t tell you, our worker didn’t even let us know about the rent bank. I didn’t know it existed.”
The participants shared similar experiences during focus group discussions. One of the participants said, "This landlord wanted me to give first and last month's rent before he even approved my application".
Issues with social assistance
Some participants complained that they were described as ‘being ineligible for Ontario Works’ (general welfare) due to having worked the previous month despite being unemployed at the time of seeking for support. These participants expressed their frustration in the following ways:
I wasn’t on assistance for years and years and years I worked. Um, I was….part time. My husband at the time, lost his job. We went for help and they told us that because we had made money… that we were not eligible. I had no money for rent, no money for bills, I’m on the street. I was literally homeless for two and a half months before I found a job …and before I could even go to welfare. And I said to them ‘This program is not – It was supposed to be set up for situations like this. Yeah, I made money last month. I paid my bills last month. I don’t have any money to pay my next bills. So because I worked, now I’m being penalized? And now I’m on the street?
Some participants disclosed that the social assistance process is cumbersome. This, according to the participants contributed to their homelessness. One female participant shared:
Unless you have an application [Ontario works] filled out you can’t get that paper signed [lease papers], and until you get an application you can’t get the stability bank, so it all runs in together and you’re already done what you need to do, but, like, the government and all their stuff is behind so you just feel defeated, like you can’t do anything.
Theme III- existing power differentials
Findings from the focus groups revealed that participants were powerless when it came to negotiating with homeowners. Some participants lacked the skills necessary for dealing with dissension. This led to interpersonal obstacles that prevented them from obtaining or retaining housing, leading to homelessness. Some of the factors that contributed include:
Gender and sex-related conflicts
Focus groups revealed that gender preferences and sexual orientation issues worked against some participants in their search for housing. Participants reported experiences of alienation with their own families as well as skirmishes with their landlords that led to their homelessness. A participant disclosed:
If someone was gay and their parents don’t quite like it, they could, ‘get out of my house’ I know someone personally who’s been kicked out of their parents’ house because they got with someone of the same gender and their parents were just not having it.
Another participant added:
I know a transgender female, who’s a mother and she has all kinds of problems because she’s still in the process of changing genders and when her landlord found out…because when she first moved in there she was male, and through the process of becoming female, she adopted the baby and wanted to upgrade to a two-bedroom from the one-bedroom and landlord lost it and refused. It was a long court battle and she won but she still had to find a new place.
Race-related issues
Some participants disclosed that even though they were citizens, they faced racial discrimination from landlords during their housing search. This perceived discrimination from landlords contributed to their housing difficulty. A participant disclosed:
“The landlord don’t want to rent to anybody colored”. Another participant added their voice to support the apparent racial denigration from some landlords; “The landlord was making like a slur of something of that race, or whatever”. This participant also disclosed how a landlord behaved towards her and her partner in their housing search.
Unclarified landlord-tenant responsibilities
Some tenants and their landlords were at loggerheads with each other. This disharmony either led to tenants moving out or being evicted by landlords. For instance, this parent intimated “Yeah! If my fridge breaks down and I call my landlord, is he gonna turn around and say, ‘you’re fixing it yourself’ or ‘I’ll fix it? But I’m gonna dock rent’.
IV- Escaping as a Solution for Hardship
When significant problems or aversive events occurred, families described ‘Escaping as a solution for hardship’. Relocation was described as the primary method used by many families to cope with the following hardships:
Family and relationship issues
Participants explained that strained relationships with their families led to their homelessness. One participant explained:
So is that how I’m gonna start thinking soon, I should’ve waited longer? I feel like I moved out when I was ready, like my parents kept kicking me out. They prepared me for it when they officially finally said, ‘don’t come home’ and you know my parents did it too many times, so when they said the last time, ‘you need to find somewhere to go and stay’, I said fine, I‘m finding somewhere to go and stay and I’m not coming back.
Another participant added; “Like even when I lived with my parents, my mom had mental health issues, and she has the same ones as I do. We butt heads all the time, so that’s why we’ve constantly been kicked out.”
Difficulty getting housing
The high cost of rent and bad credit made it difficult for some families to acquire accommodation. Some participants became frustrated as a result.
For instance, this participant disclosed; “Rent is expensive. Welfare don’t give you much. Yeah, hydro and electricity are ridiculous.” This next participant expressed how bad credit history led to their homelessness; “Yeah! A lot of places they, they want that up front now, which is good like on their behalf and I understand, but at the same time if you don’t have established credit yet something they’re not looking into.” Another focus group participant added; “Your credit definitely, like for me that was mine.”
Perceived adverse housing conditions
Some families were concerned about perceived unfavorable neighborhood or housing conditions. While some participants raised issues about insecurity in the neighborhood, others complained about irresponsible landlords. Most participants complained about how landlords were shedding their responsibilities. This made them uncomfortable and led them to move out even in the absence of a potentially safe place of abode. The only option for them was to live on the street or go to a shelter.
A participant shared:
I think dwelling is one of the factors, like the places that we have come from had mold and bed bugs problems that have gone untreated and just landlords that just don’t care. So that was more reason for us not to want to try to and work with that landlord or anything like that.
Another participant revealed:
Yeah, they weren't treating on a consistent basis to address the problem. Yeah, we came home to [See] blood all over the hallway. And that contributes…to being homeless because you don't want to pay rent somewhere where you don't feel safe and you don't feel like they are addressing problems that you say to.
Theme V- Participants’ proposed Solutions for Reducing Homelessness
A fifth theme, separate from the pathways to homelessness emerged in response to the question of ‘which strategies and solutions are recommended for reducing homelessness?’ This theme was ‘participants’ proposed solutions for reducing homelessness in the community’. Interactions between researchers and participants uncovered seven strategies that could assist in lessening family homelessness. These sub-themes include; certification/training for renters, affordable and safe housing, re-examining social assistance’s processes, linking people to supportive services, transitioning off of social assistance to employment. The rest are greater understanding and compassion from social service workers and ensuring access to resources.
Certification/training for renters
Some participants suggested that both renters and landlords be educated including persons who are currently homeless on budgeting, finances, and tenancy-related issues. According to the participants, being knowledgeable in tenancy issues will help renters make informed housing choices whiles landlords are likely to demonstrate restraint and empathy towards tenants. During focus groups, a participant expressed this view;
In Ontario and Canada renting to anybody should have to have a license to do so. They should have to go through some sort of a test, some training program sort of…, so that [you] can’t just go ahead and buy a house and rent it out to whomever [you] want. You know what I mean?
Another participant intimated; “They should have compassion training [referring to the landlords].” This next participant suggested education for tenants to forestall future homelessness. “Try to educate them [referring to homeless people) through finances or budgeting or … try to educate them before it comes to the point of homelessness”.
Affordable and safe housing
Even though the participants admitted the existence of affordable housing programs, they bemoaned the unsafe living conditions coupled with negative public perceptions towards the occupants of these houses. Some participants suggested that the housing should be both affordable and safe to provide them the comfort they need to be able to take care of their children. One of the participants expressed this opinion:
Affordable housing is great but if maintenance and everything else is not caught up people are not going to care to live there and then the cycle starts all over again. It needs to look presentable not just for your tenants but society as a whole. Because society as a whole looks at [us; the homeless] ‘oh they are scum, they are nothing but drug addicts’, and others in affordable housing get the same. Like, a lot of people… it’s not just us, I know a lot of people don’t want to look at affordable housing because there’s such stigma there as well as when geared to income that their ‘bad neighborhoods’, you hear the word, and everyone’s like I don’t trust my vehicle there. My aunt came to visit there once, she did not trust [us], she was afraid that her hubcaps were going to get stolen.
Another participant also reiterated:
Habitat for humanity …it’s build people houses that have been living in inadequate or improper housing, but you have to have a set income and a certain debt load in order to qualify, and that’s great but it doesn’t help the people that are below that amount, that need that actual stable housing, it helps basically the middle class… They are already stable you need to help the below middle class, and most of the tax breaks are for the middle class and up.
Re-examining social assistance’s processes
During focus group discussions participants called for the re-assessment of existing social assistance procedures. They advocated that officials should attach a human-face on the processes involved in acquiring assistance with housing. A participant disclosed:
Affordable housing is great in theory but the problem is you base RGI (rent geared to income) on the gross, the person does not get the gross, the person gets the net, so therefore if you base it on the gross…..say one month you work, and you have statutory holiday pay, they base next month’s rent on the previous month, what if that month does not have a statutory holiday on it? So you are paying a higher amount of rent based on the previous month when you don’t have that income.
Linking people to supportive services
Most participants also recommended that there should be an effective collaboration across services to enhance ease of flow of assistance between multiple programs. This way, housing interventions could be sustained. One participant recommended; “Maybe the social assistance workers…need more responsibility… they should be more helpful… they should be in contact with the Rent Bank”. This participant also added this view; “Well, even now, you need…. last month’s rent to get an apartment, so maybe there can be like a voucher? Why is there a rent bank? Why can’t it just go through social assistance?”.
Transitioning off social assistance to employment
During focus groups, participants expressed that individuals who have been recently employed be given ample time to work until they are in a stable situation before they are taken off the social assistance system. To them, this will act as an incentive for anybody on assistance to go and get a job. A participant expressed this sentiment:
To be perfectly honest the biggest thing that needs to be changed is that people who are capable to work can work until they are in a stable situation where then they can be taken off welfare. But what I can’t see is how I’m supposed to go out and get a job, right? When I’m looking for housing and have them telling me as soon as I get that job, ‘Well, all right, you’re now going to be making $25,000 a year, we don’t care what you’ve made to this point, you’re off welfare.’
Another participant added:
Yeah, transitions to work! I should be able to make any amount of money that I can make for the first month or so anyway, and then have them reassess my situation after a couple of months and say, ‘Ok, you’re stable, your bills are paid, now you no longer need this [support].
Greater understanding and compassion
While most participants called for empathy from social service workers, they wondered whether social workers understood their situation. This participant emotionally suggested: “Maybe, like, not so much thinking about money…and like, maybe, having a heart. I think people are in difficult situations… they (social service workers) should not make it so hard, not being ‘so rude’.” This participant also poured out emotions this way; “Yeah, have someone sort of pretend to go through the process and see how that feels like”.
Ensuring access to resources
During focus groups, most participants suggested that at the shelter, authorities could make resources available to families such as helping them attain jobs, childcare, or providing needs assessments so that they can be prepared to retain their housing when they leave the shelter. This following participant suggested:
I think when you come into shelter here – I mean, not when you first come in, ‘cause everyone’s in a different mindset – but there should be like a full-out assessment. Like, ‘Do you need help with this? Do you need help with this?’ Like, do you need, like, links to jobs? Do you need a family doctor? Do you need an addictions counselor?
Another participant also added:
They should help people get jobs, you know, help people – Not penalizing for working enough, not penalizing them when they’re worked and they need help. When you’ve paid your taxes into the government and then when you need help they’re telling you ‘No’! You can’t get help until you’re absolutely at rock bottom.’ You know?