Katherine McParland was the founder and manager of the A Way Home Kamloops movement to end youth homelessness. This issue was close to Katherine's heart as a youth who grew up in the foster care system, and experienced extensive periods of homelessness. She found purpose in the First Voice truth to create change. Katherine was appointed to the Federal government's Advisory Committee on Homelessness and other provincial policy advisory opportunities. In 2018, Katherine was awarded the YMCA Peace Medal for her work towards ending youth homelessness in Kamloops.

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Provincially, Katherine co-chaired the BC Coalition to End Youth Homelessness and helped to lead the development of a provincial plan to end youth homelessness. Katherine graduated with a Masters of Social Work from the University of Calgary. Most recently, she launched "From Marginalized to Magnified", a BC Representative of Children and Youth Report, to elevate the voices of lived expertise as part of her graduate degree. In 2020, Katherine received the Heart of the Grasslands award from the BC Association of Social Workers.