An intersectional analysis of Indigenous youths' experiences in housing systems

This project examines Indigenous youths’ experiences of housing systems in Winnipeg through a community-engaged and intersectional qualitative analysis. Using existing interview data from Indigenous youth involved with Zoongizi Ode’s Housing Solutions Lab Study, the project will analyze the institutional, policy, and interpersonal barriers that shape youths’ ability to seek, secure, and maintain safe and stable housing. It will also examine the supports and program features that facilitate housing access and stability, including advocacy, flexible resources, culturally safe practice, and rapid-response supports. This work will use intersectionality and Indigenous Ways of Knowing as interpretive lens, the project will also attend to how overlapping identities and contexts (including distinctions-based Indigenous identity, gender, 2SLGBTQIA+ identity, disability, and experiences of leaving care) impact how youths’ encounter housing systems. The study will use reflexive thematic analysis, supported by collaboration with Zoongizi Ode, an Indigenous youth advisory committee, and an Indigenous Elder to guide interpretation, validate themes, and co-create recommendations. The project aims to advance Indigenous youth housing research while informing culturally safe, equitable, and community-responsive policy and practice.

This project is co-funded in partnership with Mitacs and Research Manitoba.

  • Malcolm Disbrowe is an Anisininew, Cree, and Métis scholar-advocate. He grew up in northern Manitoba in the community of Barren Lands First Nation, in Treaty 10 Territory. Currently, Malcolm is a first-year master’s student in the College of Community and Global Health at the University of Manitoba. His work centres on Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being. He uses Indigenous research methods to understand and explore complex social and population health issues. These include substance use-related mortality and changing harmful myths of harm reduction approaches. Malcolm hopes to make a good, and lasting, change through his work and research.