Born Into Homelessness – A Too-Hidden Issue

Imagine being pregnant and homeless. Imagine having a baby and trying to find somewhere safe to sleep at night. Imagine living with the fear of child removal because you have nowhere to live.

Women in our community are having to confront these realities every day.

“How can this be happening in this day and age?” you might ask. “Why isn’t this tragedy more widely known by us all?”  “How can our resource-rich state allow this to happen?” “It’s Dickensian”. Unbelievable as it seems, it is occurring on our doorstep.

So, what can be done?

Professor Lisa Wood is a tireless advocate of research being relevant and useful to the real world. She is recognised nationally and internationally, for her leadership in homelessness and public health. Reducing health and social inequalities lies at the heart of all her research.

Underlying her academic and research career is dedicated hands-on involvement in helping people who are homeless and collaborating closely with health and homelessness services. In 2017, Lisa founded the Home2Health research team (based now at the University of Notre Dame), and leads its growing program of innovative multidisciplinary research and evaluation.

When Lisa became aware of the acute but often hidden vulnerability of pregnant women who are homeless in WA, she couldn’t ignore it.

Come and hear more about this injustice, and what needs to be done and how.