the door - enoughforall.ca · leaving me feel lonely and cold, i feel suffering, like the...
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Key Enough for All Partners ... and all of you!
enoughf o r a l l
UpdateQuarterly
NOVEMBER 2017
The DoorBy Amber Cannon
The door is closed and locked,
leaving me feel lonely and cold,
I feel suffering, like the dictionary
kind,
To experience pain, grief, and loss,
All things that I have felt of my
life, my love, myself,
I grieved when I could no longer,
Be a mother to my son,
A loss of painful sorrow,
Crying desperately while living in
my car.
The agony and despair of a life I
never dreamed,
Why had God forsaken me, and
ripped me of my self-esteem?
My mom, my hero has always told
me, that God does not make junk,
But I had always thought,
something was wrong with Him
when he made me.
What choice did I have now, but to
end my expectations and desires,
to take the knife and pills, and make
it worth everyone’s worthwhile?
I gave up on everything and
everyone,
The education system, police,
government, Alberta health and
myself.
So now the door is opened and I
walk cautiously in,
Because the door of hope means
an expectation that one desires,
to me that means I’ll stop
worrying, about being homeless
on the street,
I’ll be able to afford, the healthy
food I have to eat.
I can have optimism for the
future, of a better life for my son;
And put my hope in a person,
place, or thing;
Like a child late at night, wishing
upon a star;
Or on my knees, at my bed,
praying to a higher God.
I found some hope in teachers,
who saw I had potential,
In friends that sent me silly jokes,
and babies with belly laughs,
All that make me smile.
In bubble baths and pillows,
A key that opens to my home
The phone calls, texts, and hugs
from my son,
To baby cuddles and smells.
My mentor’s poems and
encouraging words,
To God’s unbelievable love.
To people who live far away,
And send me virtual hope box
smiles.continued on page 2
Sidney’s Story
Sidney dropped out of school in grade five. At the time, he was a bright and
inquisitive child, but his inattentive family led to him being disengaged from his
classroom, and eventually finding his way into a gang.
Almost 20 years in a gang led to nothing but crime,
violence, and addiction for Sidney. But then, in 2007,
he had a son, Sidney Jr. and Sidney knew things had
to change. But before he could find a way out, Sidney
was shot twice, rendering him a paraplegic.
Though traumatic, Sidney considers this to be the best
thing that could have happened to him. His injury got
him into witness protection, led to getting sober, and
receiving full custody of his son, now 10 years old.
While Sidney gives his son all the attention and care
he can, he’s found it difficult to provide. That’s why
Sidney came to Momentum to learn how to manage
his money. He then found out about starting a
Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) for himself,
and a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) for
Sidney Jr. The government grants in these accounts
have made a significant impact on both of their lives.
However, Sidney’s lack of education and criminal
record are holding him back from finding work. This
means he can’t afford to save in his son’s RESP or the
cost of removing his criminal record.
Sidney and many Calgarians in a similar situation can
now access Momentum’s new microloan program
called Job Boost. It’s a low interest loan that helps
people overcome barriers to getting a better job.
Someday Sidney would like to work with youth who
are involved in gangs and encourage them take a
different path. Working as a social worker would
also mean he could continue to save for Sidney Jr.’s
education and help give him the life Sidney never had.
Together, we can continue to make a difference
in the lives of Sidney and Sidney Jr. as well as
thousands of others every year who face barriers to
education and employment.
For more information about
Momentum’s Job Boost program,
visit
momentum.org/job-boost.
So here you sit, on International
Day to Eradicate Poverty,
but how many of you think of
poverty, as money in your hands?
I’m sure that many of you do.
But poverty reduction is far more
than what it seems,
So let’s take poverty right out of
it, and put in suffering.
Open the door for others, and do
not close or lock them tight,
This is what my heroes, my
parents have done,
There superpower, is
unconditional love.
***
The Door was shared at this year’s
Spoken Word event in Calgary on
October 17th, International Day to
Eradicate Poverty. Amber Cannon
is a member of Poverty Talks!, a 12
member steering committee with
current or recent lived experience
of poverty who advocate
for social and public policy
change, while also engaging
and educating Calgarians about
poverty-related issues.
The Door, continued from page 2
Enough for All Quarterly Update: November 2017
Reconciliation Journey: Walking a Path Together
On October 12, Calgarians were invited to join Reconciliation Journey – Walking a
Path Together, a full-day conference hosted by the Indigenous Advisory Committee.
This event was a continuation of a half-day conference held in May 2017, where
organizations and individuals met to discuss Reconciliation work that is happening in
Calgary, as it relates to the 94 Calls to Action.
Guest speakers included Eugene Brave Rock (from the
movie Wonder Woman) and Michelle Thrush (from the
television series, Blackstone). There was also a panel
discussion with Cam Stewart (Alberta Human Rights
Commission), Michelle Scott (St. Mary’s University), Tim
Fox (Calgary Foundation), Meghan Aebig (Civil Engineer
Urban Systems), and Evangelina Anderson (Indigenous
Youth Artist). The event was emceed by Hal Eagletail
from Tsuu T’ina Nation, who brought his wisdom and
sense of humour that entertained the crowd.
“The conference plays important part when
approaching poverty reduction for Indigenous people
in Calgary,” said Lee Stevens a Community Facilitation &
Engagement Specialist at Vibrant Communities Calgary.
“The conference was designed to help Calgarians
understand the 94 calls to action and get connected to
the reconciliation work taking place in the city.”
Stevens went on to say: “Over the past few months
at various gatherings I have heard that Calgary
is in its ‘infancy’ when it comes to understanding
the importance of truth and reconciliation, and
addressing the calls to action. I agree with this
narrative; however, this is not a negative in and of
itself, but it demonstrates where we are at. The
Journey to Reconciliation conference was about
reaching those community members who had
minimal knowledge of truth and reconciliation, and
also for people who had a desire to address the Calls
to Action but didn’t know where to start.”
Because poverty is a symptom of colonization and
the residential school system, it is imperative that we
use Truth and Reconciliation1 as a framework.
Several attendees noted Michelle Thrush’s description
of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-
Indigenous using the imagery of a pendulum swing.
“For a while the pendulum has swung in one direction
and we need it to swing in the other until eventually,
the pendulum will stop in the middle and we will find
our natural balance,” said Thrush.
This symbolism reflects the social inequalities that
exist for Indigenous people in Canada and how to
make it right, so we get to a place where Indigenous
people have the same opportunities as everyone else.
Read more about the conference in an article written
by NewscoopYYC, newscoopyyc.coop/reconciliation-
journey-walking-a-path-together/.
1http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=905
Enough for All Quarterly Update: November 2017
Empowering Kids with Aboriginal Teachings at Camp Koko’sinooniks
When a group of local indigenous children showed up recently at the Aboriginal
Learning Centre in Calgary’s Dover neighbourhood, it had more than math in mind.
Camp Koko’sinooniks (translation: All Our Children),
blessed and named by Elder Randy Bottle in a
traditional naming ceremony at Nose Hill Park this past
May, ran for five weeks this summer at Canada’s first
community hub school, the Aboriginal Learning Centre
(ALC). The effort is part of the Truth and Reconciliation
movement that is sweeping Canada, to seek to assert
what’s seen as long-ignored cultural education.
The free summer program was a collective effort
between the Calgary Board of Education, The City
of Calgary, Elders and Knowledge Keepers and
Consultants with indigenous portfolios who have
helped to collectively design the camp. “The program
demonstrates the commitment of The City to extending
the circle of participation and inclusion,” says Team
Lead of Community Social Development, Timothy Wild.
“There are 30 spaces for children over the five week
camp, so we can truly move the needle,” says Social
Programs Coordinator, Nick Gonsalvez. “To prepare
for this program, City of Calgary staff went through
two days of Indigenous Awareness training with our
lead consultant, Tim Fox. This really helped to expand
our knowledge and understanding of Indigenous
culture, history and ways of knowing.”
As part of the camp curriculum, children listened to
Elders who share traditional stories, deepened their
understanding of diverse culture and participated in
powwow dancing, traditional drumming and singing.
They also had the opportunity to learn how to set
up a traditional tipi and create various crafts around
traditional Indigenous teachings.
Some students are also successfully educating their
parents as a result of the program. In one testimonial,
a parent commented that her camper “taught her
about all of the animals and tipi teachings they
learned at the program.”
City of Calgary Aboriginal Community Social Worker,
Bev Renaud, explains that “given the importance of
indigenous culture and creating a sense of belonging
and well-being, this program supports children and
youth’s sense of pride in who they are as Indigenous
youth and their potential as our future leaders.
Connecting with families and incorporating their
knowledge was an important component to creating
a successful program that the youth and families
enjoyed and wholeheartedly supported”.
CIty of Calgary Community Social Worker, Jody
Forbes, said that her team spoke with the (ALC)
school staff and realized that food insecurity and
income is an issue for many of these families. As a
result, Sodexo Canada at Bow Valley College stepped
up to provide free lunches to campers. “Our team
wanted to remove the barriers and ensure there is
accessible programming for everyone.”
The program will continue to be delivered by The City
of Calgary this fall, as a Calgary AfterSchool program.
The aim is to increase positive youth engagement
and to develop an understanding of the diverse
First Nations, Métis and Inuit histories, cultures,
contributions and ways of knowing.
As partners in Enough for All, Calgary’s poverty
reduction strategy, The CIty has honoured the
guidance of elders who have played an integral role in
developing the plan. Supporting children to connect
to their culture helps strengthen their sense of self,
their families and ultimately their communities.
Efforts to reduce poverty happen every day in many
business units across The City. If you are interested
in how you can join with other Calgarians to fight
poverty visit www.enoughforall.ca and learn more about
community based approaches to poverty reduction.
Enough for All Quarterly Update: November 2017
Basic Income, a Growing Movement in Calgary
In January 2017, Basic Income Calgary (BIC) formed to advocate for a guaranteed
basic income that would enable all Calgarians and Albertans to live a modest lifestyle
with dignity, regardless of employment status. BIC, an action group of Basic Income
Canada Network and an Enough for All stakeholder group, is striving to gain broad
support for a principles-based basic income pilot in Alberta.
BIC believes that a basic income pilot in Alberta
should be based on five key principles- be universal,
be adequate, be a complementary part of a broad
social support system, be individual and be a step
forward for those already receiving income supports.
A closer examination of current income and social
support systems demonstrate the need for such a
principles-based approach.
According to an article in the
Homeless Hub, Dr. Nick Falvo, Director
of data and research at the Calgary
Homeless Foundation reports that
our current income support programs
are designed with two contradictory
objectives in mind; to provide some
assistance to those without work
but not too much assistance that it
becomes a disincentive to work. This
flawed notion has led to an income
support system that is complex,
difficult to navigate, strips a person’s
assets and is inadequate compared to
any measure of poverty.
Poverty Costs 2.5, a report published
by Vibrant Communities Calgary and
Action to End Poverty in Alberta,
indicates that neither income support
nor Assured Income for the Severely
Handicapped (AISH) are indexed to
the cost of living. The total annual
income for a single employable
person on income support has
dropped from $11,246 in 1986 to $7,649 in 2012. A
2001 MLA committee review of the Province’s low-
income programs resulted in recommendations
that include “creating a single, consolidated income
support program of reduced complexity,” and “a
more comprehensive, integrated approach with a
broader reach.” BIC’s first two principles closely align
with these recommendations and supports people in
their efforts to live a modest and dignified life.
Poverty is no just about income, but it is always about
income. As Basic Income Canada Network suggests,
basic income “does not diminish the value of other
public services, such as health care, child care, and
supports for people with disabilities” … nor does it
eliminate the need to tackle other
systemic contributors to poverty such
as gender inequality and racism… “it
is a powerful complement to help
those systems get better results.” The
Enough for All Strategy also states
that “when delivered effectively,
a strong formal support system
provides an important safety net that
can prevent people from falling into
poverty when they face challenges.”
An adequate income alone will not
end poverty.
BIC is ramping up its efforts for
2018 and is striving to build a strong
network of Albertans supporting
basic income. To learn more about
BIC’s principles, to receive updates or
attend a quarterly network meeting,
sign up for BIC’s mailing list at
basicincomealberta.ca or email
Poverty is not just about income,
but it is always about income.
Enough for All Quarterly Update: November 2017
Creative Theory presented their 2016 Evaluation
Repor1 to the VCC Board in May 2017. The report
includes 10 recommendations. VCC is pleased to
share the associated Evaluation Response Report2.
Enough for All and the 2016 Evaluation Report
belongs to all Calgarians and the hundreds of
stakeholders advancing their piece of this complex
puzzle. As the backbone organization, it is VCC’s role
to receive the 2016 Evaluation Report on behalf of the
greater community and Enough for All collaboratives.
VCC and Enough for All collaboratives have
already made strong progress on a number of the
recommendations. With the support and participation
of the Implementation Leadership Council, 2018
Implementation Plan was developed in 2017, leading the
work in an exciting direction for the next 12 months.
There will always be a degree of unpredictability in
the emergent work of collective impact and systems
change. However our accountability to stakeholders,
funders, partners and low-income Calgarians remains
the same. We hope that in sharing the successes
and failures VCC maintains the transparency and
accountability requested by the community. We are
excited to share with you our plans for the coming year.
Cathy Williams, VCC Board Chair Franco Savoia, Executive Director
1 http://vibrantcalgary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2018-E4A-Implementation-Plan.pdf
The Enough for All Implementation Plan for 20181
With the support of many stakeholders representing the voice of Lived Experience
of poverty, collaboratives, networks, advisory committees and funders we completed
the drafting of the priorities for the 2018 work of collaboratives aligned with Enough
for All and Vibrant Communities Calgary.
The 2018 Implementation Plan seeks to inspire real
progress toward the goal of cutting the number
of people living in poverty in half by 2023 — so
Calgarians’ basic needs are met, and all have the
opportunity to participate fully in their communities.
The Enough for All implementation plan drafted in
2015 had a four-year scope. The many learnings,
accumulated during the first two years of the
implementation of Enough for All and the
momentous changes in funding and the economy of
our city, compelled Vibrant Communities Calgary to
revise the plan for implementing poverty reduction.
The Enough for All strategy is fortunate to have many
organizations working on addressing the root causes
of poverty. Those organizations gather into networks
and collaboratives to coordinate their work and
strengthen their impact. They exchange information
and discuss their work and plans to further their
reach at the Implementation Council that gathers
representatives from all collaboratives.
The fast-track process to draft the 2018 Plan relied
heavily on the Implementation Council to build
on the learnings from Enough for All Evaluation
Reports of 2015 and 2016 and temper the promise of
newer approaches successful on reducing poverty
Response to the Enough for All 2016 Evaluation Report
As Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC) assumed the role of guiding the
implementation of Enough for All, a number of collective impact backbone
organizations advised that there should be external independent evaluators to track
progress. VCC engaged Creative Theory to track progress and annually evaluate the
implementation of Enough for All.
1vibrantcalgary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2016FinalEvaluationReportE4A.pdf 2vibrantcalgary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2016-Enough-for-All-Evaluation-Response-Report.pdf
Enough for All Quarterly Update: November 2017
elsewhere. Through the council, opportunities were
provided to the networks, collaboratives, advisory
groups and several other stakeholders to prioritize
the current and potential areas of work for 2018.
A copy of the 2018 Implementation plan is available
online at vibrantcalgary.com.
We are humbled by the generosity of the members
of the Council and all working groups that led the
identification of the objectives for Enough for All
work in 2018. The priorities (represented by those
objectives) will guide the work of the Implementation
Council members and the activities, projects and
programs supported by VCC.
We are grateful to all participants and to Dr. Lisa
Peterman who led the consultation process and
provided thought leadership.
VCC WILL EMPLOY THESE STRATEGIES:Support aligned activities and continuous communication• By piloting a mutually reinforcing
action planning process• By hosting two pan collaborative
meetings• By facilitating cross-cultural
learning opportunities
Build public will• By raising awareness of poverty and
the root causes of poverty• By carrying out the second phase of the
public awareness campaign and using phase 1 and 2 communication assets
• By developing a plan to accelerate and sustain continued communication about poverty reduction
Mobilize resources• By resourcing existing
collaboratives more appropriately
Advocate for change• By developing an
advocacy plan
Enable sharedmeasurement• By implementing
a data-sharing and measurement pilot project based on the mutually reinforcing action planning process
2018 Implementation Plan
¹Hudson, C.A. (2014). Poverty Costs 2.5: Investing in Albertans. Calgary: Vibrant Communities Calgary and Action to End Poverty in Alberta.
POVERTY IN CALGARYRoughly 1 in 10 Calgarians are living in poverty. That means about 150,000 people are living without enough money for food, shelter and other basic needs. The Calgary Foundation notes that poverty’s yearly toll in Alberta is between $7.1 billion and $9.5 billion¹.
VCC WILL MEET THESE OBJECTIVES IN 2018:1. Advancing reconciliation and
healing2. Increasing nancial
empowerment3. Increasing economic
participation4. Increasing social inclusion5. Improving access to services
that meet basic needs6. Increasing access to supports
and services
ENOUGH FOR ALLCalgary has a community-driven strategy to reduce poverty, Enough for All.Enough for All is committed to the following four goals:1. All Calgary communities are
strong, supportive and inclusive.2. All Aboriginal people are
equal participants in Calgary’s prosperous future.
3. Everyone in Calgary can easily access the right supports, services and resources.
4. Everyone in Calgary has the income and assets to thrive.
VIBRANT COMMUNITIES CALGARY (VCC)Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC) guides the implementation of the strategy — with the community remaining its collective ‘owner’. That ownership is currently shared across 20 collaboratives and networks of community members including people with lived experience of poverty, Indigenous leaders and organizations with a focus on reducing poverty.
VCC AIMS TO:• Strengthen VCC’s
strategic and coordinated leadership
• Leverage and strengthen VCC staff skills and capacity
400 – 119 14 Street NW Calgary, AB T2N 1Z6 enoughforall.ca
Enough for All needs all of us, from
every sector, working together to
succeed! Are you or your organization
interested in getting involved? Find out more
at enoughforall.ca or reach out by contacting