Vivica Ellis from the Centre for Family Equity and Dr. Lea Caragata from the UBC School of Social Work discuss how their participatory action research has helped to address family poverty in British Columbia (BC). They speak to several projects, like the Making Mothers Matter project which explored how low-income mothers’ health and wellbeing are affected by childcare access, and the Justice at Work project which examined the impacts of COVID-19 on income and the precarious labour and employment of lone-mothers in BC. The participation of women and gender diverse peer researchers allows a greater understanding of the diverse experiences of lone mothers and has resulted in sound public policy recommendations grounded in lived experiences.