Cathy Crowe

Cathy Crowe, CM (born 1952) is a Canadian "street nurse", educator, author, social justice activist and filmmaker, specializing in advocacy for the homeless in Canada. She is a frequent commentator on issues related to health, homelessness and affordable housing. She is currently a visiting practitioner at Ryerson University.

Cathy Crowe

CM
Cathy Crowe in Toronto c. 2007
Born1952 (age 68–69)
Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
CitizenshipCanadian
EducationBAA, M.Ed.
Alma materRyerson University and Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Occupation"street nurse" / educator
Known forcommunity work / anti-poverty activism
AwardsOrder of Canada, Economic Justice Award, the Atkinson Charitable Foundation

Early life and education

Born in Cobourg, Ontario, but raised in Kingston, Ontario, Cathy Crowe moved to Toronto to work and study at the Toronto General Hospital, where she received a diploma in nursing in 1972.[1] In 1985, she received a Bachelor of Applied Arts in nursing from Ryerson Polytechnic Institute.[1] In 1992, she received her Master of Education in Sociology, from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).[1]

She was married twice; with her last marriage, to former Metro Toronto Councillor Roger Hollander, ending in divorce in 1995.[2] She has a daughter and three grandsons.

Community work

Crowe became known as a "street nurse", a term coined in the early 1990s by a homeless man in the impoverished downtown Toronto area where she worked.[3] She is noted for her work with the homeless and poor populations in Toronto, Canada's largest city.[3] She is an activist for affordable housing, public health and social justice. In 1998, along with other social justice activists and academics, she co-founded the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC).[3][4] They brought public attention to homelessness, declaring it to be a man-made disaster, which in their view, qualified as a social welfare disaster requiring the same kind of response that governments give to natural disasters. This human-disaster was the basis for the name of the group and many of its ideas.[3] The TDRC and Crowe promoted the idea of a "One Percent Solution" to end homelessness. The one percent solution calls for each level of government to commit an additional one percent of their budget towards affordable, social housing.[3]

Electoral politics

In January 2010, Crowe entered electoral politics by offering to run for the Ontario New Democratic Party (ONDP) as their candidate in the February 4 by-election in the riding of Toronto Centre.[5] At the ONDP's January 10 nomination meeting, her candidacy went uncontested. She faced Ontario Liberal Party candidate Glen Murray and Pamela Taylor for the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.[6][7] Crowe finished a strong second, doubling the NDP's vote totals by taking 33 percent of the popular vote.[8] She ran a second time in the 2011 provincial general election but lost to incumbent Murray. For many years she worked closely with former Toronto City Councillor and leader of the federal NDP Jack Layton. She wrote the foreword to his book Homelessness. How to End the National Crisis which he co-authored with Michael Shapcott.

Publications

Crowe's book, Dying for a Home: Homeless Activists Speak Out, is a first-hand account of Canadian homelessness and also discusses the practical steps needed to address the problem.[9]

Crowe published her memoirs, A Knapsack Full of Dreams: Memoirs of a Street Nurse in 2019.[4][10][11] In it, she reflects on her life as a street nurse and advocate for the homeless; the role characterized by some journalists of a "relentless accuser" advocating for policy change that addresses the causes of social injustice, rather than dealing simply with the symptoms.[12]

Films

Crowe has been involved in multiple documentary films about homelessness:

  • Home Safe Hamilton (2010), Development research with filmmaker Laura Sky, Skyworks Charitable Foundation.[13]
  • Home Safe Toronto (2009). Executive Producer. Filmmaker – Laura Sky, Skyworks Charitable Foundation.
  • Home Safe Calgary (2008). Executive Producer. Filmmaker – Laura Sky, Skyworks Charitable Foundation.
  • Street Nurse (2002). Subject participant. Filmmaker – Shelley Saywell, Bishari Film Productions.
  • Shelter From The Storm (2001). Development research. A profile of Toronto Disaster Relief Committee and Tent City Toronto. Filmmaker – Michael Connolly.

Awards

Crowe received an International Nursing Ethics Award in 2003 in Amsterdam.[1] She was also the recipient of the Economic Justice Fellowship Award, from the Atkinson Charitable Foundation, in 2004[3] which was twice renewed. She was named Person of the Year by the Toronto Sun (2000) and Toronto's Best Homelessness advocate by NOW magazine (2005). In January 2018, Crowe was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada.[14]

References
  1. "Cathy Crowe". Nursing in Ontario Profiles. Ontario Nursing Connection. c. 2007. Archived from the original on 2009-06-15. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
  2. Hayes, David (2009-01-24). "Street nurse fights so we can all have homes". The Toronto Star.
  3. Simmie, Scott (2004-01-22). "Street nurse earns prestigious honour". Toronto Star. Toronto: Torstar. pp. A1, A17.
  4. Heeger, Sean (2019-08-30). "Cobourg-born street nurse and advocate against homelessness details her life and career path". NorthumberlandNews.com. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  5. The Canadian Press (2010-01-06). "McGuinty calls Toronto Centre byelection". CBC.ca. Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  6. Benzie, Robert (2010-01-07). "Murray front and centre". Toronto Star. Toronto: Torstar. Archived from the original on 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  7. The Canadian Press (2010-01-10). "Crowe to run for NDP in Toronto Centre". The Globe and Mail. Toronto: CTVglobemedia. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  8. Ferguson, Rob; Robert Benzie (2010-02-05). "Murray hangs on to Toronto Centre for Liberals". Toronto Star. Toronto: Torstar. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  9. Crowe, Cathy, 1952- (2007). Dying for a home : homeless activists speak out. Baker, Nancy. Toronto: Between the Lines. ISBN 9781897071229. OCLC 79256073.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. Lupick, Travis (2019-08-31). "Cathy Crowe's A Knapsack Full of Dreams recounts a lifetime at the crossroads of nursing and activism". Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  11. Crowe, Cathy (2019). Knapsack Full of Dreams : memoirs of a street nurse. [S.l.]: FRIESENPRESS. ISBN 978-1525534539. OCLC 1107588580.
  12. Clarke, John (2019-08-21). "A Nightmare of Homelessness: A Knapsack Full of Dreams - The Bullet". Socialist Project. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  13. Skyworks Charitable Foundation
  14. "Cathy Crowe invested into Order of Canada". Global News. January 24, 2018.

Bibliography
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