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Written by lived experience expert, Naomi
It is important to recognize that trauma does not define a person. The idea that pain can always be transformed into growth or strength is often oversimplified and, at times, harmful. Not everyone has the capacity to embrace the mindset that what does not kill you makes you stronger. But one way organizations can support youth on their journey to turn pain into growth is by creating opportunities for lived experience leadership.
Lived experience has value in every nonprofit organization. And there is a growing conversation about where this leadership belongs and how it can be meaningfully integrated. A one-size-fits-all approach is not consistent with authentic lived experience leadership, but when it is approached thoughtfully and in individualized ways, it can be deeply valuable for young people experiencing chronic homelessness and for the organizations that support them. It creates space for opportunity, transformation, and hope, while shifting the power differential that so often exists between young people and the systems designed to serve them. By valuing youth as leaders and experts in their own lives, we create the conditions for real change and allow young people to see themselves not only through what they have survived, but through what is possible for their future.
My Story
Two years ago, I experienced homelessness for the first time. My relationship with my mother had become increasingly fragile. Our arguments were happening daily, until she no longer felt safe keeping me in the home. I resented her deeply for that decision and felt completely abandoned.
Because of my environment, the people I surrounded myself with, and the choices I made during that time, I fell into addiction. Sometimes it is still hard not to feel deep guilt when I think about how my resentment and feelings of abandonment showed up in ways that hurt both myself and others. Now, I understand that what I was feeling was a normal response to unmet needs: connection, care, and belonging.
My Experience: What Meaningful Leadership Opportunities Look Like
Wyndham House has taken an intentional approach to incorporating lived experience leadership into their programming in ways that are individualized and purposeful. For example, in partnership with a local employment agency, Second Chance, they designed a paid placement opportunity where program participants work alongside a property manager to build practical skills, gain confidence, and develop the experience needed to strengthen their readiness for employment and future opportunities. Participants can choose between applying for labour or administrative work, two distinct paths that both contribute meaningfully to the organization’s operations and growth.
Throughout my placement, I was given meaningful opportunities to help make decisions, and my insight was taken seriously every step of the way. That matters. It is important to involve participants in areas that genuinely interest them, rather than placing them into roles they may not want or be prepared for.
The Youth Advisory Committee is another example of lived experience leadership at Wyndham House. Built entirely around lived experience and led by peer workers with lived experience, the committee brings together youth from every Wyndham House program once a month to share their perspectives on what is and is not working. This gives participants a real voice in shaping both the services they receive and the direction of the organization.
In both examples at Wyndham House, youth with lived experience were paid, reflecting the belief that young people deserve to be compensated for the value, insight, and lived expertise they contribute. This approach reinforces a commitment to valuing youth voice and recognizing lived experience as an essential and respected part of the organization’s work.
My Perspective: Why Integrating Lived Experience Leadership Matters
For program participants, having a sense of purpose, influence, and leadership can be vital to healing and recovery. Integrating lived experience leadership into an organization does not have to be complicated. It can be as simple as holding a house meeting once a month.
For staff, this is work. For youth, this is their life.
It was my life at one point. I never would have expected the progress I have made, or that I would one day feel called to advocate for my peers. It took one person to believe in me, one person who could see leadership qualities in me that I could not yet see in myself.
So look.
That same potential exists in so many others. We have to be willing to see it, create space for it, and nurture it within our systems.
A Note from A Way Home Canada: Our Journey Alongside Naomi
Written by Program Design & Training Consultant, Heidi Walter, A Way Home Canada
Naomi is one of the incredible youth we worked alongside as part of a project funded by the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS). In 2024, A Way Home Canada successfully secured YESS funding to support a project focused on strengthening families and natural supports in ways that improve education and employment outcomes for youth.
As part of this work, we launched a letter of intent process to identify qualified and experienced organizations interested in strengthening family support programming while also delivering employment programs and services aimed at preventing and addressing youth homelessness. Wyndham House in Guelph, Ontario, was selected as one of the successful project sites, and we began working together right away.
From the beginning, this work was grounded in a commitment to valuing lived experience and centering youth voice through research, focus groups, and ongoing opportunities for youth to shape services and delivery models through their feedback.
At the heart of this project is the belief that young people experiencing homelessness, especially those who are most vulnerable, deserve to be seen for who they are and for all they can become. By creating space for youth voice, lived experience, and connection, we affirm that they are not alone, that their experiences matter, and that healing, growth, and change are possible.
We are deeply grateful to the youth, their families, identified supports, and YESS for trusting us with this project. Later this year, we look forward to sharing the research findings and the impact this project has had.