- Zoe Dupley photo
Representatives from the City of Cranbrook, College of the Rockies and community social service groups will be meeting next week to discuss poverty in the East Kootenay.
The East Kootenay Collaborative for Reducing Poverty are holding a conference on programs and and projects aimed at poverty reduction.
Organizer Russel Workun says speakers will discuss four topics; affordable housing, child care, mental health as well as employment and income.
“Affordable Housing, for example, one of the speakers is actually a gentleman from BC Housing, who’s coming to share a project they have going out on Vancouver Island,” says Workun. “We have someone from the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation coming to talk in our employment portion.”
Workun is hoping the conference will produce an action plan for the group to implement locally.
“Work towards ideally helping one or two people in their own community out of poverty,” he says. “And then finding another one or two and helping them out. We have a lot of resources that are helping people that are in the poverty cycle. What we’re looking at is, let’s get some projects going that will help get them out of their poverty cycle.”
It’s happening at the Prestige Rocky Mountain Resort October 28 and 29.
You can view Workun’s letter to Cranbrook City Council below:
With the upcoming election I wish to inform you of an invitation you will be receiving shortly. I fear that by the time you receive the infographic invitation, it will be between meetings and you may miss the opportunity.
Re: East Kootenay Collaborative for Reducing Poverty
The City of Cranbrook, Regional District of East Kootenay, College of the Rockies and Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce are partnering in the 2022 Poverty Reduction Planning & Action program supporting local governments in reducing poverty at the local level and to support the province’s poverty reduction strategy.
Called the East Kootenay Collaborative for Reducing Poverty the regional program is a result of the earlier Cranbrook and Area Poverty Reduction Plan completed in September 2021.
Through various presentations and communications with Mayors and Councils in Cranbrook, the Columbia Valley, and Elk Valley the need was heard for a collaborative regional networking process to help reduce local poverty challenges.
The common statement was, “We cannot continue to work in a silo.”
The East Kootenay Collaborative for Reducing Poverty is built upon that need and starts with a two-day conference October 28 and 29, 2022 at the Prestige Rocky Mountain Resort in Cranbrook to hear about innovative programs and projects that have been developed in other communities.
The conference is focusing on four major topics:
- Affordable Housing
- Child Care
- Mental Health
- Employment/Income
To date, presenters include:
- BCHousing – presentation will include a collaborative housing model established in Saanich
- Representative from the Deputy Minister’s office, Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction
- Director for Economic and Regulatory Analysis, Small Business and Economic Development Division, Government of BC
- Manager of Partnerships and Engagement, Ministry of Education and Child Care
- Tamarack Institute
- Individuals from non-profit organizations in various BC communities
Attendance at the conference will include provincial and regional elected officials and key administrators, non-profits, service clubs, local school boards, RCMP, regional businesses and chambers of commerce, Interior health, youth, regional indigenous and Metis representatives, Canada Mental Health, Tamarack Institute, churches, food banks, support groups, lived experience individuals, and concerned citizens.
The conference and Friday dinner will also enable local government officials to network with representatives from BCHousing, Social Development and Poverty Reduction, Small Business and Economic development, and other East Kootenay participants.
Good luck with your re-election and hope to see you at the conference.
– Article contains documents submitted by Russel Workun
– Russel Workun, East Kootenay Collaborative for Reducing Poverty project organizer
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