BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:icalendar-ruby CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260506T025618Z UID:886-64282@stlukesvictoria.ca DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260521 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260523 CLASS:PUBLIC CREATED:20260504T211215 DESCRIPTION:Christ Church Cathedral is pleased to present a Conference on H omelessness in Victoria. All events are free to attend and open to all. \ n7:00 pm Thursday May 21 - A Framing Lecture\n"A Theology of Home in a Tim e of Homelessness" presented by Dr. Siobhan Garrigan\n\nDr. Garrigan is th e Loyola Chair of Theology and Trinity College Dublin and the Head of the School for Religions\, Peace Studies\, and Theology. She works primarily a t the intersection of theology and social justice\, specifically through t he lens of sacramental theology\, interpreting the material as spiritual a nd the embodied as the locus of divine revelation. Dr. Garrigan previously served as founding director of Emmaus Coventry\, a charity that empowers people to overcome homelessness through tailored support in communal livin g and gaining employment skills in the recycling industry. She has a weekl y radio broadcast called Witness that connects theology with current eve nts.\n\nFriday May 22 - Panel Discus sions on Policy\nPanel 1 (9:00 am) - Explaining Basic Issues\nThis panel w ill help people understand things like what factors lead to people being u nhoused\, what is the relationship between mental health\, addiction\, and homelessness\, and why is the indigenous homeless rate disproportionate t o the overall population\, in an attempt to dispel misperception and equip people with the knowledge to meaningful think about public policy.\nPanel 2 (10:30 am) - Gaps\, Barriers\, and Policy Failures\nThe second panel wi ll inform us about what perpetuates homelessness in Victoria\, including g aps in service\, barriers to re-housing\, and policy failures that exacerb ate the struggle.\nPanel 3 (2:00 pm) - Signs of Hope and Avenues for Advoc acy\nThe third panel turns to what is working\, where we see progress\, an d areas where advocacy and direct involvement can make real and lasting ch ange.\nPanel 4 (3:30 pm) - Faithful Response - Theological Reflection on P ublic Policy\nThis final session will see our keynote lecturer\, our bisho p\, and our diocesan theologian reflect on how our faith should inform the policy decisions we support and the call it puts on our lives to love all our neighbours and create a better community.\nSaturday May 23 - Storytel ling and Engagement\nSession 1 (10:00 am) - A reading from "Encampment" by author Maggie Helwig\nThe Rev. Maggie Helwig tells the story of the encam pment that set up on the yard of her church in Toronto’s Kensington Mark et. She befriends the people living on her churchyard and fights for them to be able to experience it as a home. The book calls us to confront the c allousness that allows is to live with so many neighbours who are unhoused and asks us to respond with compassion and grace.\n\nSession 2 (1:00 pm) - A viewing of "940 Caledonia" with documen tarian Krista Loughton\nShot during the pandemic\, this film tells the sto ry of Tina Dawson who found herself living on the streets of Victoria for the first time during a frigid winter. It helps the viewer to understand t he realities of such an ordeal while also advocating for the creation of s anctioned spaces for the unhoused rather than the proliferation of encampm ents in various parks and alleyways.\n \nSession 3 (2:30 pm) - Life Stories from Those Who Lived Them\nWe will he ar from people who lived unhoused for some time in their lives – what it was really like\, what helped them survive and now thrive\, what they wan t us to know.\n LAST-MODIFIED:20260504T211215 LOCATION:at Christ Church Cathedral SUMMARY:A Conference on Homelessness in Victoria URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.stlukesvictoria.ca/events/a-conference-on-homeles sness-in-victoria/2026-05-21 ATTACH;FILENAME=archive assist.png;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://dq5pwpg1q8ru0. cloudfront.net/2026/05/05/00/42/25/c8c32ca1-3db2-4d96-adee-8e2959101cef/ar chive%20assist.png END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR