Whether we talk about a homelessness “crisis” or a “zombie apocalypse”, the language we use when we talk about belonging, makes a difference to how we collectively think about the issue. A critical look at the words we use to talk about belonging and homelessness is essential because this discourse can serve to create the frameworks and limit our imagination when it comes to how we respond to needs in the community. 

In this episode of Vital Signs, Rudi hosts Gessie Stearns, researcher at McMaster University, to talk about her work on this topic and why language matters when it comes to belonging. 

Key quotes

“I tend not to focus solely on numbers. This is an issue that exists everywhere. I’m originally from northern Ontario, and I saw it there as well. It has its own flavour everywhere, but a common thread is how we frame it. We often call it a “crisis,” which shapes emergency-style responses, but that framing also has drawbacks because homelessness has existed long before it was labelled a crisis. It becomes normalized, something people live with day to day, rather than something requiring structural change.” 

“Hidden homelessness refers to people who might be couch-surfing or staying temporarily with others. They don’t have access to rights-based housing or the legal protections that go with it. They could lose their place to stay at any moment. When municipalities talk about “actively homeless” populations, they tend to mean people who are interacting with systems — shelters, outreach programs, hospitals. It’s essentially a count of people we know about.” 

“The challenge is that when we only count those interacting with systems, we miss a huge portion of people who are vulnerable. And in mortality data, we see another disturbing issue: people can “exit” homelessness through death, which can look like a ‘success’ in data systems, even though it absolutely isn’t.” 

“When we label people as “homeless,” it becomes an identity rather than a circumstance. That kind of framing opens the door to seeing people as risks, burdens, or threats.” 

“Language matters because it shapes policy, public perception, and ultimately how people are treated. The way we talk about homelessness has deep historical roots tied to other forms of discrimination and “othering” — whether that’s around immigration, poverty, or race.” 

“When we ask things like “Are they from here?” that question has been used historically to marginalize many different groups. When those narratives get attached specifically to homelessness, we lose sight of where these ideas come from and how harmful they can be.” 

“Othering creates a clear “us versus them,” where “they” become a problem that has to be managed rather than people who belong to the community. When we talk about homelessness this way, we often forget the longstanding policies, laws, and practices that shaped communities in the first place. These systems didn’t appear out of nowhere — they’ve built on themselves over time.” 

“Laws and policies are inherited just like cultural norms. They don’t reset every generation. So when we’re dealing with homelessness today, we’re also dealing with the accumulated impact of colonialism, capitalism, land policy, and governance systems that separate people from material resources.” 

“The dominant framing focuses on the lack of a place to live, which is important, but what’s often missing is the longer history of how land and space have been severed from people’s right to exist. We often talk about housing as an asset or a commodity, rather than as something necessary for human survival and dignity.” 

“Belonging is a really loaded term. It often shifts the conversation away from equity toward conformity. It implies that there are rules or criteria for who belongs. When we group people and make claims about them, discrimination follows. Belonging becomes about who fits and who doesn’t. Right now, the way belonging is used often leads to more rules, more laws, more criminalization. The legacy response is: why don’t people fit, rather than questioning the system itself.”