Making Poverty Reduction an Election Issue

by Victoria Rose • Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 at 3:00 pm • Posted in Community>Downtown>News

March 16, 2011 – 4:00 pm

Photos by Sanja Frkovic

On March 10, Pathway to Potential held a community organizer training session at the Jewish Community Centre in downtown Windsor.

The day-long event, “Making Poverty Reduction an Election Issue in 2011”, outlined the processes and steps required for developing a common platform and making poverty reduction a serious issue for the next provincial election. The campaign is about awareness on the home-front, “We want to make poverty a key election issue for Windsor-Essex residents, candidates and incumbents.”

The workshop was lead by Mike Balkwill from Put Food in the Budget, a campaign that is pushing for a monthly increase of $100 for adults on social assistance. The campaign is sponsored by the Social Planning Network of Ontario and The Stop Community Food Centre. The concern is that many recipients of social assistance also rely on food banks that are unable to provide fresh food and complete nutrition; a typical food hamper may be filled with processed foods high in refined carbohydrates, sugar, fat, and sodium. An additional $100 would allow an individual to shop for items that a food bank is not able to store like fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, milk, eggs, and butter.  To learn more about why $100 a month would make such a difference, why don’t you take the Do the Math survey?

Debbi Desjardins (left) and Jane Cacciavillani sharing their ideas on why they have enjoyed the workshop.

Nicole Sahli, a University of Windsor student from the Masters of Social Work program is doing her placement at the United Way. For her the workshop was a good experience, “I think this experience was a lot different than I expected, but in a good way.  It kind of touched on a lot of areas that people don’t normally focus on and that’s important because a lot of people are coming from a lot of different backgrounds and they are coming together for a common goal.”

After the session representatives from different organizations within the community shared a summary of the event. Adam Vasey, Poverty Reduction Coordinator for Pathway to Potential finishes the video with thoughts on the goals and outcomes of today’s event:

The next session for “Making Poverty Reduction an Election Issue in 2011” will be held on April 9 from 9am to 3pm. A location has yet to be determined. For more information get in touch with Pathway to Potential.

Photos by Sanja Frkovic

About Victoria Rose

Victoria is the Online Content Curator for OurWindsor.ca. She has a Marketing Certificate from St. Clair College of Applied Arts & Technology and has worked extensively in the marketing field, with a heavy focus on networking, website promotions, and agricultural tourism. Victoria was the Marketing & Promotions Chair for the 2009 Special Olympics Provincial Summer Games, and currently volunteers as the Marketing & Promotions Coordinator for the Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market. For the past several years she has been writing My Local Food Blog, searching for and spotlighting Essex County’s numerous food finds.

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