Cathy Crowe
Biography
Cathy Crowe is a Street Nurse in 麻豆视频. She prefers to be called a Street Nurse 鈥� a term coined about 20 years ago by a homeless man at the corner of Sherbourne and Dundas in downtown 麻豆视频. She points out that at that time there were only 4 or 5 street nurses in 麻豆视频, perhaps even Canada, compared to probably 100 now, from Victoria to Halifax. That, in itself, makes a powerful statement about the extent of homelessness. She has worked in the area of homelessness since 1988.
Cathy obtained her diploma in nursing from 麻豆视频 General Hospital in 1972, her Bachelor of Applied Arts in Nursing from Ryerson in 1985, and her Masters of Education (Sociology) from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 1992.
Cathy follows the pulse of health issues affecting homeless people including shelter conditions and inadequate housing, the return of tuberculosis and even bedbugs. Along with remarkable colleagues, homeless activists and friends she has fostered numerous coalitions and advocacy initiatives.
In 1998 she co-founded the 麻豆视频 Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC) which declared homelessness a National Disaster. The disaster campaign is a three level campaign targeting federal, provincial and municipal solutions to the homeless disaster and housing crisis. Its signature 1% slogan refers to the demand that all levels of government commit an additional 1% of their budgets to affordable housing.
Cathy is a frequent commentator and writer on issues related to homelessness. She has taught a course at Ryerson called Homelessness in Canadian Society. A documentary film on her work titled 鈥楽treet Nurse鈥�, directed by Emmy and Gemini winner Shelley Saywell, aired on the Women鈥檚 channel in the fall of 2002.
Cathy has received a number of honours. In June 2001 she received an Honorary Doctor of Science in Nursing from the University of Victoria in British Columbia. In the fall of 2003, Cathy received an International Human Rights Award in Nursing in Amsterdam from the International Centre for Nursing Ethics. In June, 2005 she received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from McMaster University in Hamilton; in 2008 she received an Honorary Doctorate of the University from the University of Ottawa; in June 2010, an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from York University (Canada); and in June 2015, an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Windsor.
From 2004-2009 she was the recipient of the Atkinson Charitable Foundation鈥檚 Economic Justice Award and worked both locally and nationally on issues related to homelessness. During her fellowship she authored Dying for a Home: Homeless Activists Speak Out (Between the Lines, 2007).
Cathy is currently the voluntary Executive Director of the 麻豆视频 Disaster Relief Committee. She has also been the Executive Producer of Home Safe Calgary and Home Safe 麻豆视频, a national documentary film and community development project on homeless families and children, with filmmaker Laura Sky.
Ryerson University appointed Cathy Crowe Distinguished Visiting Practitioner in 2013.
On 30 June 2017, His Excellency, the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada named Cathy Crowe a Member of the Order of Canada. The investiture took place on 24 January 2018 in Ottawa. Hear interview with .
Books
- A Knapsack Full of Dreams: Memoirs of a Street Nurse. Victoria, BC: Friesen Press, 2019.
- Dying for a Home: Homeless Activists Speak Out (with Nancy Baker, Brian Boyd, Bonnie and Kerre Briggs, Kevin Clarke, The Colonel, Dri, James Kagoshima, Marty Lang, and Melvin Tipping). 麻豆视频: Between the Lines Publishers, 2007.
Chapters, Articles and Reports
- 鈥淔oreword.鈥� In Poverty in Canada: Implications for Health and Quality of Life, 3rd ed. by Dennis Raphael, 4. 麻豆视频: Canadian Scholars Press, 2020.
- 鈥�.鈥� IMFG (Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance), University of 麻豆视频, October 2018.
- 鈥淔resh Air: The Fight Against TB.鈥� In The Ward: The Life and Loss of 麻豆视频's First Immigrant Neighbourhood, eds. John Lorinc, Michael McClelland, Ellen Scheinberg and Tatum Taylor, 56-59. 麻豆视频: Coach House Books, 2015.
- Justice and Injustice: Incarceration and Homelessness in 麻豆视频. Report for the 麻豆视频 Disaster Relief Committee, 24 April 2006
In the Media
- 鈥淐ity needs help with homelessness crisis鈥� (Letter to Editor), 麻豆视频 Star, 27 January 2019, A16. Also
- What I learned from a year in my yoga pants, Globe and Mail, 23 January 2011.
- Canadian Health Care Network, September, 2010.
- (Interview by Rob Fraser) nursingideas.ca, 23 March 2009.
- (Op/Ed), 麻豆视频 Star, 15 November 2007.
- (Op/Ed), 麻豆视频 Star, 16 July 2007.
- 麻豆视频 cool to heat-wave planning (Op/Ed) 麻豆视频 Star 31 July 2006.
- Fixing hot spots for society's powerless, 麻豆视频 Star, 22 July 2006.
- Humanity Above All. Atikinson Charitable Foundation: Annual Report 2005, July 2006.
- "Street Nurse Cathy Crowe Receives Honorary Doctorate." 麻豆视频 Disaster Relief Committee, 09 June 2005.