Urban Exchange

Poverty insight: the conversation continues

This is the first article in a series of responses to the latest Urban Exchange report entitled Poverty in Sight. The responses come from several respondents who are all experts on poverty. We invite you to continue to read and respond to these articles as we carry on the conversation on this important topic.

Emma (we have changed Emma’s name for confidentiality reasons) considers herself to have been affected by poverty at one time in her life. She is on disability and tells Urban Exchange that “a lot of times it’s check to check”. She has lived in various areas of Winnipeg and throughout the years she has accessed a variety of social programming offered in these areas.

To Emma “not enough money [and] low income is poverty. And all the rest of it would come from not having enough money and having a low income.” She goes on to say that a lack of income is at the root of many of the other ways that people identify poverty; inability to care for one’s family, hopelessness, isolation all stem from not having enough money. Throughout our conversation about poverty in Winnipeg Emma also brings up the need for food as relating closely to poverty. She says that “sometimes you do things that you don’t really want to do because you’re poor; I’ve panhandled in the past for food.” She explains that poverty forces people to make decisions to do things that they would never normally do – it’s a limiting of options due to a lack of income.

Emma agrees that poverty in Winnipeg is a serious issue and theorizes that people who don’t identify it as serious in their particular neighbourhood are just not seeing the poverty in their neighbourhood. She disagrees with the notion that poverty leads to crime, “I wouldn’t go steal a car. I don’t think that crime should be associated with poverty. Cause that’s a step further, that’s a whole different area.“

While Emma agrees with the statement that people in Winnipeg have access to opportunities for work, education and recreation, she goes on to say that she believes that the most significant thing that leads to poverty in Winnipeg is a lack of education. And does not see addictions as a cause of poverty, “I don’t agree with addiction [as a cause of poverty] because if you can afford to feed your addiction you’re not in poverty.” She sees education as the most important factor in poverty reduction and education in this instance means more to Emma than just a formal education with a degree at the end, she explains that people need to learn about life skills to manage their household, and employable skills as well – two skill sets that have helped her rise out of a situation of poverty.

Emma has learned about growing food and food storage which has helped her make food last longer, and she has gained valuable experience in food service through a local agency. Food to her has been key in freeing herself from poverty. She now buys food first and spends money on other things second. By eating better she has brought down her blood sugar level and feels that she can move through life better. This is why it is important to Emma that people who are living in poverty have access to small community gardens, “give people better food and when you eat better you can think better and sleep better and everything better” so this would affect people’s living situation, and their sense of themselves and how they feel about themselves.

Thank-you Emma for responding to this report in such a thoughtful and informative way.

What do you think of Emma’s comments? Have some comments of your own? Let us know.

Readers comment on Poverty in Sight

As we’d hoped, the release of Poverty in Sight: A Winnipeg Perspective has generated a lot of interest in the community. It has also generated some great comments that add to the conversation about poverty in Winnipeg.

Barry Hammond, who’s on the board of Agape Table, an inner-city soup kitchen, emailed to say that a large percentage of the people who access Agape Table’s services have or have had a mental and/or physical illness of some kind.  In Barry’s experience, this “contrasts significantly” with what Urban Exchange survey respondents said when we asked them about the most significant things that lead to poverty (4.6% of respondents listed physical/mental illness/disability).

Jonah Levine emailed with a link to a video and some questions of his own: “Does this man’s assessment reveal truth? Prescribe a more effective method of ending poverty in this world? Maybe?”

Watch the video – what do you think?

Poverty in Sight: A Winnipeg Perspective

Last spring, Urban Exchange asked Winnipeggers to share their opinions about poverty in Winnipeg through a survey called Poverty: Insight & Ideas. Thank you to the 2854 people who participated, either online, in writing, or in person!

You can review the findings from the survey by clicking on the links below. At the bottom of this page is a link to some poverty-related resources in Winnipeg.

Download the full report – contains demographic information, along with respondents’ definitions of poverty, their opinions about what causes poverty, and their views about how serious the issue is in Winnipeg.



Definitions of poverty: age breakdown – we asked “In your opinion, what is poverty?” This interactive chart shows you how people in different age categories responded. You can also mix and match the findings, depending on which age range(s) you’re most interested in!



“How serious is poverty in Winnipeg?”: responses by neighbourhood – we asked “How serious is poverty in Winnipeg?” This chart shows you what respondents said, categorized by which part of the city they live in.



“How serious is poverty in your neighbourhood?”: responses by neighbourhood – we asked “How serious is poverty in your neighbourhood?” This chart shows you what respondents said, categorized by which part of the city they live in.



More poverty-related information and resources – there is a lot of work being done to address poverty in Winnipeg and Manitoba. The provincial government announced a poverty reduction strategy last spring, and the Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council has brought together community leaders from a variety of sectors to formulate a coordinated approach to reducing poverty. Other groups (including the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Social Planning Council of Winnipeg) do regular research about poverty and related social issues. Click here to learn more.

University of Winnipeg students act on their thoughts

A group of students from the University of Winnipeg’s Department of Theatre and Film have created a video with a message about poverty.

Check it out:

HOMES takes a creative approach to housing & income assistance

If you are on Employment and Income Assistance, how often can you receive money for new bedding?

What is the number of job applications that must be made per week while on General Assistance and how many bus tickets are provided?

West Central Women’s Resource Centre’s HOMES Project (Housing Options, Mentorship and Economic Security) has created games to educate and deliver information on these topics and others like them.

The HOMES program was designed to support women who are dealing with problems or concerns around housing or income security (welfare or employment assistance). HOMES mentors include both staff members and community volunteers who help community members address issues within housing and income assistance and provide information on these topics. Additional benefits of the program include workshops, information sessions and discussion groups where women who have had similar experiences can come to support one another.

The two Jeopardy-inspired games entitled EIA Jeopardy Game, and Rewarding Work Jeopardy Game were developed as a tool for education and information sharing, and can be played just like the popular television game show when they are downloaded off of West Central Women’s Resource Centre’s website.

Click here to visit West Central’s website to learn more about the program or download the games and give them a try.

Employment status, earnings and expenses: a study on Canada’s low-income families

A recently published study by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) focuses its lens on the “working poor” – people aged 18 to 64 who are not full-time students, have worked for pay a minimum of 910 hours in the reference year, living in families whose total disposable income is below the Market Basket Measure low income threshold in that year for their community or community size and family configuration (www.hrsdc.gc.ca).

The Market Basket Measure (MBM) is used in this case as it takes into account not only the income of the individual or family, but also necessary expenses, taxes and deductions, child care, non-insured medical expenses, etc.

The study found that of all low-income families (according to the MBM) 31% of the families had main income earners who worked more than 910 hours per year (in other words, 31% of the low-income families fit HRSDC’s definition of “working poor.”) Only 14% of the families saw the main income earner work from 1-909 hours per year, while 38% were non-earners.

HRSDC also notes that the depth of poverty – how far below the MBM poverty line, and persistence of poverty – how often in a given timeframe the family stayed below the MBM poverty line are less severe for the “working poor” than for other low-income family types.

Please click here to check out the full study

Thank you to MonsterTrimble for the photo

CCPA, Make Poverty History call for poverty reduction targets

In a document entitled The view from here: Manitobans call for a poverty reduction plan, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Make Poverty History Manitoba outline what they consider to be the critical elements of a meaningful poverty reduction plan.

Among the dozens of recommendations made in the report are a series of targets and timelines for reducing poverty in Manitoba.

The report, based on suggestions from Manitobans, was released around the same time as the Province of Manitoba unveiled its ALL Aboard poverty reduction strategy.

Download the CCPA/Make Poverty History document to learn more.

Exchanges 3

What’s going on at Urban Exchange? Catch up on some of the latest happenings in the new issue of Exchanges, a newsletter for Urban Exchange participants.

In this issue, we will:

• Highlight a new initiative that United Way is investing in
• Give you a sneak peek at findings from Poverty: Insights and Ideas
• Feature our Urban Exchange Working Group co-chairs.

Winnipeg ranks 11th among Canadian “Next Cities”

Last week, the Free Press reported that Winnipeg placed 11th among Canadian cities on the “Next Cities” rankings released by Next Generation Consulting. A Wisconsin-based market research firm, NGC has been studying the city and workplace preferences of 20-40 year olds since 1998.

“The next generation is very savvy about choosing where they’ll live,” says NGC’s founder, Rebecca Ryan. “They look carefully at quality of life factors like how much time they’re going to spend in traffic commuting, if they can live near a park or hike-and-bike trail, and whether a city’s downtown stays awake after five.”

The Next Cities list ranks cities that are – or have the capacity to be – great places to live and work for the next generation, because they have the best overall score in the seven indexes the next gen values.

What are those seven indexes? Here’s a rundown:

1. Vitality – how healthy is your city? Air and water quality, green space, and overall health contribute to this measure.
2. Earning – this index includes things like future job growth and diversity of employment opportunities.
3. Learning – measures a city’s commitment to education by tallying educational opportunities, library use and spending on education, among other things.
4. Social Capital – includes measures of diversity, crime rates, voter participation rates, and the percentage of women- and minority-owned businesses.
5. Cost of Lifestyle – measures what you’d think it does. Winnipeg ranked well on this index.
6. After Hours – what’s going on after work? This index looks at things to do and places to go at night and on weekends.
7. Around Town – measures airport activity, commute times, “walkability” and more.

Check out the Free Press article and add your comments to those of 52 (and counting) others who had something to say about Winnipeg ranking 11th in Canada.

More links:

• Next Generation Consulting press release
• West End Dumplings (a local blog) post and reader comments
• More commentary from the Winnipeg Free Press – plus the list of 27 Canadian cities that “made the cut”

Urban Exchange participant profile: Brian MacKinnon

Brian MacKinnon had a lot to say when he filled out the Urban Exchange survey on poverty this past spring. A retired high school teacher who spent 25 years working at R.B. Russell School on Dufferin Avenue, he’s learned about poverty from hundreds of students over the years.

“It was a huge privilege to teach the kids I taught. For them, life is more complicated. They taught me about the impact of addictions – the impact of boredom. My response was to help them bring themselves up, to celebrate their talents and abilities.”

As an English teacher, MacKinnon helped students compile three anthologies of their own writing. In the last several years, though, his focus has been on helping young people realize their potential through recreation. An avid fitness enthusiast, he started the R.B. Russell Downtown Y program and began providing free YMCA-YWCA memberships to as many students as he could.

One student in particular got the ball rolling. Her weight had increased significantly and her health was becoming a concern for her. She confided in MacKinnon that she wanted to go to the Y but couldn’t afford the cost of even a subsidized membership.

MacKinnon made it his personal mission to help that student with her Y membership. He also recognized an opportunity to help other students, knowing the positive impact that after-school activities, especially recreational activities, can have.

MacKinnon’s Downtown Y program provided free membership to more than 300 youth in its first year. Generous support from the Winnipeg Foundation, Winnipeg Free Press readers and local businesses helped him keep the program going. Since 2002, the initiative has provided free memberships to thousands of Winnipeg youth.

MacKinnon feels strongly about the causes and effects of poverty. He also believes that he can do something to make a difference. Urban Exchange appreciates his willingness to share his views on poverty – and his encouragement that we share his views with others.

For more information, here’s a link to a 2005 Winnipeg Free Press story about Brian MacKinnon and the Downtown Y program.