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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
29. October 2009
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.
Employment status, earnings and expenses: a study on Canada’s low-income families
25. September 2009
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
20. August 2009
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 newsletter – August 2010
11. August 2009
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.
Click here to download the pdf version or read it online.
Please feel free to let us know what you think by emailing us or leaving a comment.
Winnipeg ranks 11th among Canadian “Next Cities”
5. August 2009
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:
- Vitality – how healthy is your city? Air and water quality, green space, and overall health contribute to this measure.
- Earning – this index includes things like future job growth and diversity of employment opportunities.
- Learning – measures a city’s commitment to education by tallying educational opportunities, library use and spending on education, among other things.
- Social Capital – includes measures of diversity, crime rates, voter participation rates, and the percentage of women- and minority-owned businesses.
- Cost of Lifestyle – measures what you’d think it does. Winnipeg ranked well on this index.
- After Hours – what’s going on after work? This index looks at things to do and places to go at night and on weekends.
- 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:
Urban Exchange participant profile: Brian MacKinnon
24. July 2009
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.
IUS Lecture Series / SpeakUp Winnipeg event: Can we build a resilient Winnipeg worth celebrating?
7. July 2009
The Institute of Urban Studies and SpeakUp Winnipeg are presenting a special screening of “Souvenirs”, three remarkable short films about Winnipeg made from rare and mostly forgotten archival footage.
Souvenirs takes viewers on a fascinating journey to the past to see Winnipeg built from “Sand and Stone”, survive the 1950 flood in “Watermarks”, and celebrate its 75th anniversary in “Waiting for the Parade.”
Hear the story behind the films from filmmaker Paula Kelly and City of Winnipeg Archivist Jody Baltessen.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion on the past, present and future of the City of Winnipeg as our city prepares for the 21st Century with the SpeakUp Winnipeg process and the Our Winnipeg plan.
Thursday July 23rd, 2009
7:00 pm
Eckhardt Gramatte Hall
3rd floor, Centennial Hall,
University of Winnipeg
Admission is free and refreshments will be served.
For more information, contact Michael Dudley at 982-1145 or m.dudley@uwinnipeg.ca
Photo credit:
Happy summer and info on Speak Up Winnipeg’s charette
24. June 2009
The weather has been fantastic over the past several days and it finally feels like summer is here! While Urban Exchange will continue to be abuzz with activity (poverty survey analysis, information-sharing meetings, report-writing, planning for next questionnaire, etc.), Working Group members will be taking a break until September.
At today’s year-end wrapup meeting, Working Group volunteers reflected on a successful year and talked about plans for the fall. A few highlights?
- More than 2800 Winnipeggers participated in our conversation about poverty. In one month! If you filled out the survey, thanks!
- Of those Winnipeggers, a significant number said they have a household income of less than $20,000/year. We’ll report on demographics in the fall, but so far it’s looking like we were able to reach a wide cross-section of people.
- We trained – and paid – several people living in low-income neighbourhoods to do face-to-face interviews with their neighbours.
- Through social media like blogs, Facebook and Twitter, a lot of you helped spread the word about Urban Exchange.
Speak Up Winnipeg, the City of Winnipeg’s new engagement process, came up during the discussion at today’s meeting, too. The SUW website was mentioned as a great example of how to give citizens a way to talk about what’s important to them.
The process isn’t just about a website, so it’s important to mention the charrette that started Tuesday and is happening for the rest of this week.
What’s a charrette? According to SUW, it’s “a way to harness the collective power of a community by gathering everyone with an interest in a set of issues in the same place in a concentrated time period.”
Here’s some commentary on the first day of the charrette from Graham at Progressive Winnipeg, who’s also a member of the newly-formed Speak Up Squad, a kind of “street team” that will be at various public events to hear what you have to say about Winnipeg this summer.
If you get a chance to check out the charrette, it’s going on at the Winnipeg Art Gallery until June 26th.
Poverty definitions offer individual insights
7. June 2009
Our survey on poverty closed a month ago and we’re working hard to compile and analyze what you’ve said so we can report back to you and the community. With 2855 participants (a few hundred more than our original estimate) – and almost as many open-ended definitions of poverty to sort through – that’s going to take some time.
In the meantime, we wanted to keep the conversation about poverty in Winnipeg going.
Right now we’ve got a few respondents’ poverty definitions rotating in the “Poverty Is . . .” banner in the sidebar and we’ve posted a handful of them below.
If you filled out the Urban Exchange poverty survey, how do these definitions differ from yours? If you didn’t fill out the poverty survey – how do YOU define poverty? Please let us know by leaving a comment below!
To get you thinking, here are some short samples of what other Winnipeggers said:
- Poverty is . . . a lack of hope – a feeling of not belonging.
- Poverty is . . . when people go hungry.
- Poverty is . . . when opportunity is a closed door.
- Poverty is . . . when you have no hope or choice – it’s not really about money.
- Poverty is . . . living paycheck to paycheck, or worse, on the streets.
We’re planning to release a report on the full findings in the fall. Until then, we plan to share smaller bits of information on MyCityMySay.ca. We hope you’ll come back every now and then to check it out!
Photo credit: Kieran 2009 (Flickr)
9. November 2009
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