Hilary Chapple

I really enjoy Community Engagement and Collaboration with Community Agencies and Nonprofits to enhance the quality of life for our Homeless, folks living in Poverty and the LGBTQ2S Community. 

I have designed a Training Plan which I will be teaching now that Phase One of the Project is completed.  It is explaining that Diversity and Inclusion must be present for our LGBTQ2S Homeless. This is progressing very well and I am very proud of my work. I am passionate about this and it is so needed.

I have been working on the Training Plan for approximately 2 years after seeing a need with my own experience living in a homeless Shelter and identifying as a Queer Woman.  After three unsuccessful attempts to try and get funding for Community Engagement, I decided to fund the Needs Assessment Survey in Calgary myself with the support of my wife and step-daughter.

Homelessness and discrimination commonly intersect, as discrimination often acts as a structural precursor to homelessness and, in turn, the experience of homelessness can lead to being discriminated against.  Discrimination occurs when an individual is treated differently than another solely on the basis of some characteristic or indeed an interplay of characteristics such as race, sexual orientation, religion, physical disability, mental illness, age, citizenship status, gender, and/or socioeconomic status.  It is clear that individuals who find themselves subjected to discrimination based on singular or variously intersected elements of their identity consistently face barriers to obtaining housing.  I am also working with the #LGBTQ2S community in Calgary in collaboration to share my work and ideas and to obtain funding for further engagement; this is proceeding very well.

Also, it should be noted that I do not hold a Doctorate in Social Work, Philosophy or any other Degree.  But what I do have is my Lived Experience of Homelessness and I identify as a queer woman.  I am ready to work for the #LGBTQ2S homeless community. This is not about me earning huge dollars, it about helping this specific Community with all agencies who work for their betterment. They should take the Training and work with me in collaboration to help with Trauma Informed Care and being Inclusive and Diverse. 

I am on 2 National research teams regarding Women’s Homelessness and Aging in the Right Place & also 2 Calgary Grassroots Committees and that is very important to me. 

But this is my Project and has been my passion for two years and this community is worth my time, hard work and my desire to see lives get better. ️‍

Thank You.