Poverty elimination advocates, politicians, and community representatives from across the city and county met May 8 at the first planning meeting of the Guelph and Wellington task force for poverty elimination.
The group endorsed a comprehensive and cooperative approach to eliminating poverty in Guelph and Wellington.
Guelph City Councillor June Hofland chaired the first meeting. “I see people in our community struggle to earn a living wage, find suitable housing and feed themselves and their children,” said Hofland. “By working together in the task force, I believe we can ease this suffering.”
Reverend Paul Clarkson, board member of Chalmers Community Social Services Centre, which operates two food and clothing shelves in Guelph, sees the needs in the community daily.
“In our community one in ten children is living below the poverty line and food bank usage has increased by over 28% in the last four years. We need to reduce the numbers of people living in poverty. This task force is a new approach to eliminating poverty in Guelph and Wellington County, one that includes all voices in the community.”
The task force is a community initiative composed of concerned and affected residents, organizations, business, all levels of government, the research community and others working together move poverty reduction issues forward. Similar task forces are successfully operating in Hamilton and Cambridge.
It formed out of the Feb. 12 poverty symposium hosted by the United Way’s social planning department. Over 100 people met to discuss and learn more about poverty in Guelph and Wellington. Key recommendations from the symposium included developing a cohesive poverty reduction strategy, identifying “local champions” and community education.
Daniel Moore, Executive Director of Family & Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington, strongly supports the establishment of the task force.
“Most parents want to do what’s best for their children, but living in poverty takes away many of their options,” said Moore. “All the agencies and individuals working on poverty need to come together to plan how to better support individuals and families. The Guelph & Wellington poverty elimination task force will allow us to use each agency’s strengths to the fullest.”
President of the Guelph and District Labour Council Terry O’Connor said, “The Labour Council has supported a number of anti-poverty groups over the years, and supports the 25 in 5 program’s goal of reducing poverty in Ontario by 25% in 5 years. This task force is a key step in developing a local poverty elimination strategy.”
Participants at the Friday meeting were selected to reflect a number of different voices in the community. The planning group will provide leadership to the broader task force and raise a voice for poverty elimination in Guelph and Wellington.
Ken Dardano, Executive Director of the United Way of Guelph and Wellington, stressed in his opening remarks to the group that they need to focus on collaboration, as no one sector or group can tackle the complicated issue of poverty alone.
“We are all working toward a common goal, to reduce the number of people living in poverty,” said Dardano.
The planning group will meet again June 20.
