According to Betsy Trumpener (1997: 12) successful literacy programs serving the homeless have “staff who have experience of homelessness, or were politically and socially active in homeless communities.”
As a way to compensate for our lack of experience, it is essential that we join them in their activism — not just as a way to support them, but as a way to learn from them and become more effective in our work.
In this section I described the findings of the research on the links between Harm Reduction and learning, framed by our three research questions. The final section summarizes this information and makes recommendations for future work.
In this research project, I have conducted focus groups at WISH and the Lifeskills Centre, reflected on my work there and consulted documents. I have learned about Harm Reduction, how it links to learning and how my colleagues at Capilano College and our partner community groups can improve our practice by paying attention to Harm Reduction.