ICYMI: On February 13, the WNHHN, Pan-Canadian Voice on Women’s Housing, and the National Indigenous Women’s Housing Network hosted a strategizing session on the Intersectional Feminist Housing Agenda
By Stefania Seccia
Director of Advocacy & Communications
With more than 100 endorsers backing the Agenda–from national organizations, to community and grassroots groups, peers, advocates, and individuals–the Organizing Meeting was an opportunity to gather and brainstorm on how we can push the Agenda ahead.
International Women’s Day, March 8, is just around the corner. We discussed ways we can collectively push forward the 15 Calls to Action in the Agenda. We shared exciting updates and milestones the Agenda has achieved since launching on Dec. 7. Listen in on ways we can further mobilize our communities and networks.
Where do we go from here?
In good news, on February 13, the Federal Housing Advocate embedded the Agenda’s eighth Call to Action into her final report on encampments. She has called on the Government of Canada to establish a National Encampments Response Plan, ultimately working toward addressing the cause of encampments and ensuring people’s human rights are being protected.
So, with over 100 endorsers, 1,200 letters sent to federal leaders urging them to support the Agenda, and multiple news stories covering the launch (and an upcoming podcast episode about it!)–the meeting broke out in smaller groups where folks from all over Canada brainstormed ideas on how to proceed and further amplify the Agenda.
Organizing ideas
- Utilizing International Women’s Day as a jumping off point, creating a media package for folk’s to use to build campaigns with the Agenda embedded into it.
- Creating a feminist music playlist on Spotify to get people into the right head space to fight for women and gender-diverse people’s housing rights!
- Including the Agenda into upcoming webinars where addressing housing and homelessness issues for women and gender-diverse people is being discussed. The Agenda provides many solutions that can be included.
- Flooding social media with more opportunities and content that will drive folks to continue endorsing the Agenda and sending a letter/taking action.
- Any upcoming events involving this issue can include a speaker who can present on the Agenda.
- Bringing the Agenda into meetings with municipal or provincial politicians–many of the Agenda’s Calls to Action can be localized or championed by local representatives to the federal government.
- Creating a hashtag for social media for this upcoming International Women’s Day and building a campaign around it.
- Create a dialogue through art, working with artists on projects around the housing and homelessness crisis faced by women and gender-diverse people.
- Harnessing the power of storytelling and creativity as a way to mobilize the Agenda.
- Budget season is almost upon us with the end of fiscal coming up–using the powers of media and government relations to get the Agenda front and centre.
- Cross-organization collaboration, from local to national groups, and
- Using the Agenda to get meetings with provincial housing ministers. We can build a toolkit and/or letters to support local efforts.
Check out the above video of the organizing meeting to hear more about the ideas above and how they were discussed.