Partnership Engage Research Grant - Storied Lives: shifting perspectives on poverty

The Live Work Well Research Centre and the Guelph and Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination have been awarded a one-year Partnership Engage Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The research project titled Storied Lives: shifting perspectives on poverty, will develop a collection of composite stories of those living in poverty in the Guelph-Wellington, Ontario region.

These composite stories will work to change public attitudes and assumptions, particularly among policy and decision-makers, by amplifying the voices of those experiencing poverty. Composite stories paint a powerful first-person narrative that is made up of multiple realities and diverse experiences. These stories will help to humanize the experiences of those living in poverty in the Guelph-Wellington region and will provide a meaningful, intersectional and inclusive response to the current social and political climate in Ontario. 

The composite stories that result from this project will be shared using diverse forms of knowledge mobilization, including digital media. When the Guelph and Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination are called upon as an experts in poverty, these composite stories will also act as powerful evidence to community groups and all levels of government. 

The project aims to fill gaps in poverty literature and to uncover what is often missed in local statistical data, which are the unique and diverse experiences of those living in poverty. A deeper understanding of the experiences of working poor families and individuals is vital to shifting attitudes and assumptions of decision- and policy-makers, to better respond to the changing needs of the community.

This research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.