Homelessness is rarely experienced as a straightforward journey. People’s pathways through homelessness and the service system are shaped by progress and setbacks, recurring patterns, individual circumstances, and moments of connection and opportunity.

This “rich picture” offers a visual synthesis of findings from the Pathways study. Its imagery is drawn directly from participant surveys and interviews and was developed in close collaboration with the TREES Committee and research team. Unlike a written report, the picture does not ask you to follow a single path. Instead, it invites you to explore the whole landscape, notice individual details, and consider how different experiences and systems connect.

Together, the words and images offer another way to understand the complexity—and humanity—of people’s pathways through homelessness. 

Low resolution image of the pathways visual. A higher resolution can be found by clicking the image

 

Read the research behind this visual

Stef shows a draft of the visual synthesis to TREES committee members

About the rich picture and the artist

The art was developed in a collaboration between the TREES Committee, the Pathways team, and Stefanie Koehler who is an artist, designer, and strategist who works to help organizations innovate to plan for sustainable and just futures. She combines system thinking, visual facilitation, and facilitative processes to co-create solutions that help audiences understand the broader system in which their work is situated. Stef can be contacted at stefanie.m.koehler@gmail.com