Critical Issues: Power

Poverty and homelessness are isolating, alienating, and disempowering. Drop-ins and shelters can work to empower their residents and clients or they can reinforce powerlessness and dependence. Literacy work, too, can be used to empower people or to encourage passivity.

Empowering literacy work supports homeless adults in determining for themselves how and what they want to learn. It encourages them to continue to think critically and to participate in creating change, both in their lives and in society.

Critical issues: Racism

Many adults with low literacy skills experienced racism in school. Some were sent to Residential Schools, where their language and culture were destroyed. Others were streamed into special education or vocational classes because of the colour of their skin. Still others were ridiculed by teachers and students because of their form of speech or where they came from. Black people, First Nations' people and People of Colour who are homeless also experience racism on the street and when they try to access services.⁴

In order to create accessible spaces where people feel safe enough to learn, it's vital that agencies adopt strong anti-racism policies. These policies should ensure that agencies develop a diverse staff, culturally appropriate programming, and anti-discrimination rules for the drop-in or shelter floor. Learning environments should include reading materials, flyers, and posters that reflect the experiences and abilities of Black people, First Nations' people, and People of Colour.

Critical Issues: Gender

Do women who are homeless have the same access to literacy and learning opportunities as men in similar situations? The experience of Toronto literacy and drop-in/shelter workers suggests that they do not. Violence against women, a common cause of homelessness, often intensifies on the street.⁵ And unfortunately, drop-ins and shelters don't always provide a safe haven for women.

Beat the Street, a pioneering street literacy program, had the courage to confront this issue head on. The program was " started by two men who were from the streets. The idea was to have a literacy program for street people and have it run in a way that was comfortable to street people. For men and particularly white men, this principle worked well. Women on the street are abused and exploited in more sexual and violent ways ... These attitudes towards women were accepted at Beat the Street because some male staff felt that it was just the way men are and that there was no need to interfere. The fear that women lived with on the street made them afraid to report incidents of abuse and harassment that happened in the centre."⁶

This experience is not unique to Beat the Street. Staff from many programs report that women who do use gender integrated services experience harassment and sexual overtures from male clients. Women's ability to utilize these services is already often restricted by their responsibilities for child care, and by the control of their male partners.

Some women who are illiterate experienced childhood abuse and incest, experiences which made it difficult for them to learn as children and which continue to affect them as adults.⁷ Many homeless women also experienced childhood violence. The importance of creating safe spaces for women before learning can begin is obvious. Before women can access services and feel comfortable enough to risk learning, a safe and anti-sexist atmosphere has to be in place.

Homeless-serving agencies have responded in different ways to this challenge. A handful of excellent feminist services provide women-only drop-ins, shelters, and literacy programming.⁸ Some integrated programs have launched women's groups, or a women-only time in the program. Others have initiated men's groups, in which homeless men are encouraged to learn about and address sexism. Still other programs consider anti-sexist work on the floor addressing and stopping sexist comments and behaviour - as vital to improving services for women. These efforts are still in their infancy.

Women who are homeless face unique challenges in accessing learning opportunities, but female staff in predominantly male drop-ins and shelters also experience sexual harassment. Literacy workers, who are usually female and eager to break down the power dynamics between tutor and learners, may be particularly vulnerable. Outreach literacy workers who come into drop-ins and shelters need to be clear about their own boundaries and assertive in "confronting" men on inappropriate behaviour and remarks. Even with agency support, confronting sexism is not easy. It often leads to conflict and can be exhausting. It can be difficult to separate the feelings of powerlessness that result from being harassed from the knowledge of your actual power as an agency worker. While sexist men can make you feel bad, ultimately you have the power to deny them services. It is important to consider approaches to confronting sexism that make dialogue and change possible.