INUVIK - In order to find a solution to the homelessness crisis in Inuvik, Julia Christensen figured she had to start with the people living on the streets and in the shelters.

"I want people to understand the firsthand experience of those who are homeless in Inuvik," Christensen said. "A lot of people don't know. There are so many different reasons and stories. Homelessness is not something to demonize, and it's becoming increasingly demonized."

Julia Christensen presents her research findings on homelessness in Inuvik during a meeting on March 25 at the Aurora Research Institute. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photos

The McGill University student's PhD thesis, Homeless in a Homeland, was a three-year study of homelessness and housing in the North. Much of it centres on anecdotal research from interviews with homeless people mostly in Inuvik and Yellowknife.

Christensen, who was born and raised in Yellowknife, is currently writing a comprehensive account of homelessness in the Northwest Territories.

Her work was recognized two years ago when she was among 15 scholars in the country to win a Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Scholarship. The money from the award has helped fund her research.

She shared some of her findings March 25 at Aurora Research Institute in a presentation to a handful of people working with the town's homeless, including RCMP officers, shelter workers and the Gwich'in Tribal Council's vice-president. She was looking for feedback from the community.

Setting the foundation of her presentation, Christensen said the territorial government refuses to admit homelessness and a lack of housing are territory-wide issues, not just specific to Yellowknife and Inuvik.

"The reality is that most people that are homeless in Inuvik come from other places," she said in her presentation.

Through her research, Christensen discovered people who had been using shelters as a permanent residence.

She pointed out that rapid social and cultural changes have significantly affected homelessness in the North. As recently as the 1970s, men were able to survive from selling what they harvested on the trap line, a practice that has all but vanished.

Apart from the problems of skyrocketing housing costs and government cuts in social spending, Christensen said people end up on the street for many reasons, including being cut off from their families and communities.

"There's no one single thing," she said. "There are homeless men; there are homeless women ... there are a lot of contributing factors.

"I was struck with how vulnerable one is when they have an addiction and they don't have a place of their own to feel comfortable. It's a very difficult situation to be in."

Alana Mero, a member of Inuvik Interagency committee and chair of the Inuvik Justice Committee, was one of close to a dozen people who attended the meeting. She spoke about the need to increase one-on-one counselling for people at risk, especially those with mental health problems.

Like several others who attended the presentation, the active community volunteer emphasized how difficult it is to find funding to help the homeless.

"You might as well catch a leprechaun and get his pot of gold. You'll have that much luck," Mero said.

Mary Ann Ross, Gwich'in Tribal Council vice-president, said that the Nihtat Gwich'in Band is responsible for running the shelter, which she said should be a community-wide responsibility. Ross also challenged those in attendance to form an advocacy group to pressure the government into paying attention to homelessness.

One of the things that Christensen said keeps her motivated is she believes governments will eventually take homelessness, and the effects it has on society, seriously.

She said housing homeless people in shelters and jails is expensive and the alternative of investing in housing and social programs might be cheaper.

"My hope is by highlighting very common ways that people fall through the cracks that governments may see the solutions are really not that complicated, she said. "We already have a problem. If we don't do anything about it it's only going to get worse and it's only going to get more expensive."