Nicole Ives

Who Is Welcoming the Stranger? Exploring Faith‐Based Service Provision to Refugees in Philadelphia

Inherent in the refugee experience is dislocation. One task for refugees and members of the host country is restoring social ties that have been disrupted. Religious congregations are involved in restoring those ties in refugee resettlement in various ways. This study was undertaken to identify the prevalence and types of services congregations provide to refugees in a metropolitan area. Data from 1,392 congregations from the Philadelphia Census of Congregations were analyzed to provide detailed information of congregations involved in refugee resettlement. Characteristics of 129 congregations who provided programming for refugees and in‐depth descriptions of 18 congregational programs are presented.

Technology and Access: Responding to the Social Work Education Needs of First Nations and Inuit Communities

This paper presents challenges in delivering social work education in areas that are traditionally geographically, psychologically, and/or linguistically isolated from mainstream Canadian society. Included are discussions using technology to reach these groups. In response to research results from ‘Rethinking Social Work Education for First Nations and Inuit Communities’ and as part of a continuing commitment by McGill University to ongoing professional development for social workers in Indigenous communities, a multidisciplinary, online supervision course was offered to Community Services staff in the First Nations community of Kahnawake. Evaluations of Kahnawake participants are included as well as next steps.

Found poetry – Finding home: A qualitative study of homeless immigrant women

The focus of this article is on the use of found poetry as a tool in qualitative research to examine the experience of precarious housing and homelessness among immigrant women in Montreal. Immigrant and refugee women exhibit greater risk for homelessness than women in general or male newcomers due to higher rates of poverty. Yet little is known about migrant womens experiences of homelessness and less is available from their own perspective, specifically. The article provides a context for understanding female, newcomer homelessness and summarizes the history of the found poem in a variety of disciplines with an emphasis on “social work and the arts” context. This article also details the study methodology and illustrates the process of the found poem technique with two found poems used as data representation. The found poems we present in this article reveal two of the studys key findings related to causes of homelessness: unexpected crises (tipping points) and exploitation.

Transnational elements of newcomer women’s housing insecurity: remittances and social networks

Navigating settlement is complex and often stressful for international migrants. Transnational networks may provide support in addressing settlement hurdles, as may settlement or other community organizations. However, elements of the migration experience, including transnational obligations (such as remittances) and transnational networks, may also be hindrances to overcoming settlement challenges. This paper is based on a larger study on housing insecurity and homelessness among newcomer migrant women in Montreal, Canada. Here, we focus on how transnational aspects of settlement shape newcomer women’s housing experiences, an understanding essential to the development of responsive services and policies. We draw on interviews with immigrant, refugee and undocumented women to illustrate the housing struggles they face, navigating transnational processes while (re)building their lives in Montreal. The paper concludes with recommendations for ways that immigrant and refugee settlement services can acknowledge and integrate these transnational considerations in order to prevent precarious housing and homelessness.