The message at the Journey Home乌鸦传媒檚 Emergency Shelter Design Lab was that everyone needs to come together to eradicate homelessness in Kelowna.

On Thursday, June 13, dozens of community members filled Trinity Baptist Church for a design thinking workshop to help the Central Okanagan Journey Home Society (COJHS) create a service map to understand how to better help people who experience homelessness.

乌鸦传媒淭o make sure that we are including all of the voices who want to be heard is part of the whole concept of ending homelessness,乌鸦传媒� said society executive director Gaelene Askeland. 乌鸦传媒淏uilding a community, making sure we have a safe community with everybody, I think the more people that we can get who come from all of those different environments just makes it a more robust conversation and helps us make better decisions.乌鸦传媒�

The workshop included an introduction by COJHS system planner Saran Mallinson, a guest lecture by Chuck Lazenby, executive director of Unity Project, a homeless shelter in London, ON., and an enlightening conversation by Kelowna community members who have been homelessness.

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乌鸦传媒淲e don乌鸦传媒檛 want to shy away from having the tough conversations,乌鸦传媒� said Mallinson. 乌鸦传媒淲e like the richness that comes from diverse views all in one room together.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淭here乌鸦传媒檚 a myriad of things that can change their lives,乌鸦传媒� said one member of the lived experience group about people who experience homelessness. 乌鸦传媒淪ome of those people who experience consistent homelessness have lived through child abuse, traumas and different things like that.乌鸦传媒�

The event was capped off with each table presenting its own emergency shelter design, using the information gathered from the first half of the event.

乌鸦传媒淚f we really know what we want for our community, it gives us better leveraging to get it,乌鸦传媒� said Askeland.

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David.venn@kelownacapnews.com
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