Urban Exchange

Fantastic response to poverty survey, more opinions needed

UPDATE (May 9): The survey is now closed.  Thanks to the more than 2300 Winnipeggers who participated!

In the last two weeks, almost 1700 Winnipeggers have responded to the Urban Exchange poverty survey with enthusiasm and a lot of sincere thought. THANK YOU to everyone who’s shared their opinions so far.

The poverty survey is open until May 8th. If you haven’t weighed in yet, please take five minutes to participate.

We want to hear from everyone – if you know of a group we should reach out to, we’re open to your suggestions! Here’s a snapshot of how the survey has been shared so far:

• With students – - we’ve been out to University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg, and Red River College. In total more than 200 post-secondary students have participated so far.
• With workplaces and labour unions – hundreds of employees have completed the survey because they received an invitation to participate.
• Through local media – the Winnipeg Free Press and the Canstar Weeklies generously donated space to print the survey so that all of their readers would have access to it.
• Through blogs, Twitter and Facebook – local blog ChrisD.ca featured the survey a couple of weeks ago. Winnipeg 0′ My Heart linked out to MyCityMySay.ca, driving traffic to our site and helping to build awareness about Urban Exchange. Winnipeg Twitter users shared the survey with their friends (thanks @AceBurpeeShow, @DZanke, @scrapbuker, @CMBSCca and anyone else we’ve missed!) And a lot of folks have posted a link to the survey on their Facebook profiles.
• In person – thanks to a handful of local community groups, we’re training community residents to interview their friends and neighbours.

We’re also setting up at various locations around the city – the Ellice Café & Theatre is just one example. We’ll be there on May 4 from 8:30 – 10:30 am. Coffee’s on us if you fill out a survey while you’re there.

Merci de vous être exprimé!

Nous vous remercions d’avoir participé au sondage La pauvreté : Aperçus et idées. Nous espérons qu’il vous a fait réfléchir et que vous jugez qu’il en a valu la peine.

Si vous connaissez quelqu’un qui serait intéressé à donner leur opinion et leurs idées, veuillez leur parler du sondage.

Vous pouvez cliquer ici pour le lien à Facebook.

Vous pouvez aussi inviter un ami à y participer en utilisant le formulaire ci-dessous.

New survey on poverty in Winnipeg

UPDATE: This survey is now closed.  Thanks to everyone who participated!  Please stay tuned for results.

All Winnipeggers are invited to fill out the new Urban Exchange survey! Poverty: Insight & Ideas is the first in a series of short surveys about poverty. Over the next four weeks, you’ll have an opportunity to share your ideas about what poverty means and how serious it is your city and your community.

Why are we focusing on poverty? A Statistics Canada report in 2006, found that 136 000 people in Winnipeg are living in poverty, including more than 30 000 children. Urban Exchange participants – there are more than 4500 of them so far – have consistently said that poverty is one of their top concerns.

Poverty can mean different things to different people. In order to effectively address poverty, we need to talk about it. This short survey is the beginning of a conversation – in time, we’ll also be asking for ideas about solutions.

To participate in this conversation:

• Watch for the survey in your Winnipeg Free Press newspaper on April 7
• Click here to fill out the survey online
• Give us a call at 477-5360 and we’ll mail the survey to you

Thanks for taking the time to participate in Urban Exchange!

Thanks for having your say!

Thanks for completing Poverty: Insight & Ideas. We hope it was thought-provoking and worth your time.

If you know someone who’d be interested in sharing their insight and ideas, please tell them about the survey.

You can click here to share the link on Facebook.

You can also invite a friend using the form below.

Conversation is strong on Winnipeg blogs

We often describe Urban Exchange as a dynamic conversation between Winnipeggers and United Way about the issues that are most important to us.

There’s another dynamic, engaging online conversation happening in Winnipeg that you should know about. Media personalities, well-known journalists, bloggers, and other Winnipeg residents are weighing in on the issues in the Winnipeg blogosphere – all of them contributing to the conversation in their own unique way.

Below are a few of the sites Urban Exchange has been following lately.  Most of the time, they focus on the things that people usually talk about – politics, urban issues, the weather, etc.  These days, a lot of the talk is flood-related.

Let’s kick things off with West End Dumplings, written by a West End resident who focuses mostly on local issues.  He’s also got a Winnipeg history blog and a new site that commemorates the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.

Then there’s the PolicyFrog, another local news blogger who thrilled online audiences in Winnipeg by filling in for Vic Grant on CJOB’s “Excuse Me” last week.

At ChrisD.ca, writers have been following and adding to local flood coverage.

Winnipeg Free Press writers are online in a big way, adding a personal take to their reporting over the past couple of years.   Dan Lett talks politics and current events at The Sausage Factory.  Nick Martin takes you inside the education beat at Telling Tales Out Of School.  Check out Blog Central for a complete listing of WFP blogs.

Winnipeg: Love & Hate is a beautiful photo blog by Bryan Scott, who features local architecture – some of it’s well-known but often he’s got photos of buildings you’ve probably never noticed before.  It’s definitely worth checking out.

Twitter is a popular online space these days.  To see what Winnipeggers are saying about floodfighting efforts, here’s a great place to start.

Another place to participate in the conversation about urban issues is New Winnipeg, an online forum that’s been around for several years.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s a start.  The beauty of the blogosphere is that you can follow the conversation from one site to another – eventually you’ll find a few sites you’re interested in following on a regular basis.

(Note: please keep in mind that the sites we link to at MyCityMySay.ca do not represent the views of United Way of Winnipeg – please see the Disclaimer for more detail.)