Specialist, Evaluation Services Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, United States
Abstract Information: Through the Ignite format, this presentation outlines how an attempt to reduce burden on Indigenous communities by combining two evaluations of two programs led to further benefits. Recently, Canada’s national housing agency conducted an evaluation of key housing programs for Indigenous Peoples living on reservation land in Canada. It is important to involve communities given the history of paternalism, but unmet expectations have contributed to engagement fatigue. We want to hear Indigenous stories, respect community visions, but not burden them. To overcome these challenges and be more judicious in engaging Indigenous communities, two separate evaluations of different housing programs were combined. This decision to consolidate altered all stages of the evaluation process, from planning to reporting, and carried risks. While grouping programs with different objectives, processes, requirements was logistically challenging, there were positive trade-offs that went beyond reducing burden. This includes the ability of Indigenous groups to speak to multiple programs at the same time, linking ideas and weaving stories that illustrate the interplay of programs and problems, struggles and successes. After all, while government view programs distinctly, most Indigenous participants consider them more holistically.
