Poverty Awareness Month: Centring Lived Experience and Community Collaboration to Create Lasting Change

A photo of author Maggie Phelan.

About the Author

Maggie Phelan is a lived expert and advocate involved with the Guelph Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination. In this capacity, she co-chairs Community Voices, a group for and by people with lived and living experiences of poverty to come together to learn, share personal experiences, and advocate for change. She also sits on several other committees in Guelph and Wellington to advocate and advise for poverty related issues including The Guelph Wellington Drug Strategy Peer Advisory Committee, Guelph Community Health Centre Client Advisory Committee, Wellington Guelph Food System Resiliency Table, and The Wellington County Housing and Homelessness Advisory Committee. She is passionate about examining intersectional experiences related to poverty and the effects colonialism has in relation to poverty and related issues. She finds great purpose in giving back to her community and helping people who are struggling on a grass roots level. 

Poverty Awareness Month: Centring Lived Experience and Community Collaboration to Create Lasting Change

As we step into a new year, many of us are reflecting on our goals for 2025. Some of us have just spent time with friends and family, enjoying holiday celebrations with copious arrays of food and joyful memories, cozied up inside. Others weren’t as fortunate, spending the holidays outside, trying to survive. Some are isolated from family members and living in a shelter or struggling with addiction or mental health difficulties. Many families may be in serious debt without access to financial support or were unable to celebrate as they had in previous years. It can be difficult to remain hopeful given the state of our economy, systemic barriers, and the financial priorities of people in power.

January is National Poverty Awareness month, an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the systemic challenges that perpetuate poverty and homelessness. It’s a time to rally together as a community to raise awareness. It’s also a time to recognize that we are all connected and have a role to play in ensuring everyone in our community can not only meet their basic needs but also live with dignity and thrive.

I am one of the co-chairs of Community Voices, a group within the Guelph and Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination (PTF) that is for and by people with lived expertise to connect, learn, and advocate about poverty-related issues. As part of the PTF, we work closely with key players across the community, including local organizations and community leaders, to collaboratively advocate for system and policy change to address the root causes of poverty.

What underlies this approach is a commitment to centre intersectional lived experience. This commitment has been strengthened with the recent launch of the PTF’s new change model and activation framework, which places lived experience at the core of all aspects of our shared work. I’m excited that we continue to commit to the importance of lived and living experience in our work. By prioritizing the voices of those most impacted, we are better able to drive meaningful, upstream change and build a more equitable and just community for all.

THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATION AND CENTRING LIVED EXPERIENCE

I believe that centring peoples’ lived experiences in evidence-based collaboration within our community is what most effectively leads to lasting change. It has really been empowering to listen to people sharing their unique stories and to be able to collaborate with those who work in related fields or hold positions of power in our community. I feel hopeful that—if our work remains interconnected and centres people with lived expertise—we will continue to develop new strategies that can reduce harm and to focus on long-term solutions to poverty for generations to come. 

We know that centring people with lived expertise is crucial for shaping policies and solutions that are responsive to diverse needs, which maximizes impact. The lived expert brings unique firsthand experiences that might otherwise not be considered by people who hold different levels of privilege or power. 

SHOWING UP MEANINGFULLY

I also feel it is so important that organizations show up in a meaningful way and are committed to doing the work and not using folks as just a token. Lived experience is not universal; it varies greatly from person to person. People face a wide range of poverty-related challenges, such as homelessness, food insecurity, or inadequate social assistance, and not everyone experiences all these issues—or experiences them in the same way. For example, my experience of poverty as a single parent with disabilities and past experiences of homelessness and addiction are different not only from someone with different identities but also from others in similar situations. When engaging individuals with lived expertise, it’s crucial to involve those with direct experience of the specific issue being addressed and to seek multiple perspectives to reflect the diversity within those experiences. Sharing information about how systems and policy work not only builds shared understanding but also makes meaningful collaboration possible. 

It is important that meaningful involvement is done in a way that aims to reduce harm and is trauma-informed. This includes honouring someone’s lived experience, not making assumptions about what their experience is like, and showing grace about how that can impact someone’s ability to show up. People should be given the opportunity either to influence or to actively collaborate, depending on their capacity. People should be looked at as partners or equals, and there should also be opportunities for people to lead and to be properly supported in doing so. Having transparent consent is very important. This includes communicating realistic expectations, sharing information about what to expect, and being conscious of what could be harmful about the way someone is being engaged.

HEALING AND CREATING CHANGE THROUGH STORYTELLING

I first got involved with the PTF by doing community advocacy training. This was a ripple effect from my connections with a few other community-based groups where I had opportunities to share bits and pieces of my story. I was welcomed into an environment to share with many like-minded people our similar stories and struggles. It felt like less of a moral failure. The group was fostered in a non-judgemental way and there was something that felt unbelievably healing about my experience. Eventually, I was comfortable enough to share my own story publicly. I continue to do so in various settings to help with advocacy and so that others know they are not alone in their struggles. Since I’ve become involved, it really helps me to feel a great sense of purpose in my life.

I also started to gain a better understanding of policy and how our systems are set up. Education and collaboration help to build local capacity to advocate to different levels of government. Through working together, we are busting myths to help shift our cultural narratives to be less stigmatizing. We are advancing local advocacy to create permanent housing solutions that are tailored to individual needs. Together, we can realize a world where community members’ needs are met for long-term housing, income, food, employment, transportation, and health. We can also work toward a vibrant community where everyone experiences equitable outcomes, well-being, care, and belonging.

– Written by Maggie Phelan

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