Om Shanty: Why Parts of Downtown Resemble an Apocalyptic Shantytown

Lisa Warden was born in Finland and, as a child of diplomat parents, lived with her family in Moscow, Ottawa, Havana, Quebec City, Hong Kong, Islamabad, and Delhi. After attending university in Canada, she kept right on moving, and since that time has lived in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Britain. She moved to Victoria in 2015. Lisa has a doctorate in political philosophy and literary theory and is an independent scholar with the Animals & Society Research Initiative at the University of Victoria. She is also the director of Street Hope Victoria, a faith-based nonprofit group that works to forge caring connections with homeless people in the downtown core. Lisa previously worked at the Mustard Seed and as a volunteer and board member with Living Edge. It was while living in India in her youth and again from 2008 to 2010 that Lisa became especially interested in issues related to urban poverty.

Presentation:    Om Shanty: Why Parts of Downtown Victoria Resemble an Apocalyptic Shantytown

Lisa will speak about the nexus of addiction, mental illness, and homelessness in downtown Victoria, and why it is so formidable and intractable a challenge.