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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how service professionals involved in the provision of services to clientele who use solvents and are often without stable housing understand the process of healing and recovery in their work. Design/methodology/approach – Using a narrative methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 human service professionals (i.e. social workers, case managers, etc.) employed in providing recovery-based services to individuals who use volatile solvents. Findings – Despite the dominant cultural story about “street addicts” and solvent users’ limited possibilities for recovery, professionals indicate that they view their clients as “just like everyone else.” The dominant storyline was that of advocating for the capability of the client group. These stories are discussed in relation to hope for professionals who provide health and housing services to clientele with complex and multi-systemic needs. Originality/value – The findings have implications for how human service providers maintain hope and purpose in their work with stigmatized populations (e.g. homeless individuals, those with alcohol or other drug-related problems). This study highlights how human service professionals make sense of their role in their work and how they maintain hope for themselves and for the recovery of the clientele they work alongside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the lived experiences of women without children experiencing housing instability and homelessness in Calgary, Canada; and narratives of what triggered their journeys were constructed according to the tenets of hermeneutic phenomenology, and suggest a framework for assisting these women. Design/methodology/approach – The design for this study is qualitative, approached through hermeneutic phenomenology rooted in Gadamerian philosophical hermeneutics (Gadamer, 2004). Hermeneutic phenomenology, as a research method has provided insight into understanding phenomena and human experiences that are important to human science professionals. Findings – The experience of homelessness for women without children started while they still lived at home, but after they lost all sense of “being at home” as a consequence of identifiable negative home experiences, such as abuse. The effects or impacts of stable childhood or adult home experiences and the implications of such in contributing to the feelings of homelessness were pervasive in the stories told by these women. Practical implications – Access to housing does not mean getting out of the feeling of homelessness, because the trauma that triggers the experience for the clients often last for a life time. Long-term engagement with the client will be synonymous to increasing the possibility that they can be stabilized permanently. Resources dedicated to these clients must be tailored to each client’s needs, with strong agency collaboration with the mainstream systems. Social implications – Community health nurses and other support workers for individuals experiencing homelessness need to build bridges with inter-professional groups to close the gap created by societal attitudes toward women and domestic abuse survivors through advocacy and education, especially in countries where women are still treated as second class citizens. Originality/value – Although there has been a considerable amount of research conducted on the determinants of homelessness and housing instabilities in women or their pathways into homelessness, the plight of women without children and their experiences while homeless have received little attention in literature. This study explored the lived experiences of women without children experiencing homelessness and narratives of what triggered their journeys were constructed according to the tenets of hermeneutic phenomenology, and suggest a framework for assisting these women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]