Events › Learn Downtown: Housing First and Why it Works

Join Heather Slade and Shayla Livingston from the Bissell Centre to talk about housing challenges and solutions in Edmonton. 

This session is part of Learn Downtown, a City of Learners speaker series offering bite-size learning opportunities downtown. Complimentary lunch will be provided in support by The Downtown Vibrancy Strategy, and this session will take place in the Civic Employees Fund Room 2 on the main floor of Stanley Milner Library.

The Housing First strategy is a comprehensive solution to houselessness in which the quick provision of stable accommodations is a precondition for any other intervention. This approach relies on layers of collaborative support networks that promote stability and eliminate factors that cause or prolong houselessness.

Heather Slade is a Cree-Metis woman with deep roots in the Edmonton area. She is a direct descendant of Chief Michel Callihoo, signatory of Treaty 6. She has lived experience with homelessness and other colonial system injustices. She was gifted the name “Pakoseyihtakosiw – She Brings Hope in 2020. Everyday she aims to do exactly that!

Shayla Livingston has worked for Bissell Centre in the Homeless to Homes program since April 2022. Her previous work in addiction treatment and understanding cycles of addiction were foundational in developing her interest in supporting individuals experiencing homelessness in Edmonton. Shayla has a Bachelor of Professional Arts in Human Services from Athabasca University.