North America, Women and Urban SDGs: An Urban Paradigm Shift Towards Gender Equality
Urban Thinkers Campus (The City We Need NOW!)
Sara brings an abundance of life experience and two decades of research on lone mothers, social policy and precarious employment to her position as the Executive Director at Home Suite Hope. Growing up in a low-income, single mother-led household, and then raising her own children as a single mother, Sara understands the importance of a hand up and being connected to resources within the community. Through this support, Sara was able to pursue school, complete a PhD in Sociology from the University of Waterloo, and ultimately change the trajectory of her children’s lives – breaking her cycle of poverty. Sara brings this first hand knowledge and experience of the plight of marginalized low-income families to all programming at Home Suite Hope. In addition, as a Professor of Sociology at Sheridan College, Sara has spent her career arguing that complex social issues require multifaceted and innovative approaches to produce long-term solutions. She is thrilled to be part of Home Suite Hope as it epitomizes a complex wraparound, hand-up approach to stop generational poverty in its tracks.