The Latest

The Impact of Embracing Asset-Based Community Development

Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) is about looking at the gifts and assets that exist within a neighbourhood and allowing people to respond to and create local opportunities. How do you use local assets and gifts to guide a city to increase the social fabric and deepen community? Howard Lawrence, who lives in a neighbourhood in Edmonton, had the answer to this question - Abundant Community.  Howard saw the power of neighbouring and wanted the city to experience the richness of neighbours sharing their gifts, knowledge, skills and abilities to improve their neighbourhood.

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Yes We Can! Reduce Poverty

Our May Webinar welcomed speakers from the United Way of Central Iowa: OpportUNITY Director Seth Johnson and Dr. Helene Fein, Director of Community Impact Services, along with Stephen Lynn, Coordinator of Social Planning from City of Windsor’s Pathway to Potential. Weaving a story on how they got here and what it means, the speakers shared their data on achievements and discussed how small actions lead collectively to big impacts.

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Why We Should Talk About Poverty and Health

“Does your doctor know how much money you make? Because they probably should…” is the opening line in the May 1^st episode of The Big Story podcast by host Jordan Heath-Rawlings. Heath-Rawlings goes on to suggest, “What if the easiest way to lessen the burden of poverty on people and on our health care system was to just give people enough money to live healthy lives?”

Shortly thereafter, Jordan introduces his interview guest, Dr. Gary Bloch, a Family Physician at St Michael's Hospital and an Associate Professor with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine.

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What if Parishes Got Involved in Poverty Reduction?

David Brooks, a columnist for the New York Times, wrote on the Op-Ed page for Friday, April 5, 2019, “Jesus said the poor will always be among us, but there are a lot of people in Canada testing that proposition. According to recently released data, between 2015 and 2017, Canada reduced its official poverty rate by at least 20 percent.” The effort was not just to move people out of poverty, but to eradicate poverty altogether. It meant asking the question, “What does a vibrant community look like in which everybody’s basic needs are being met.” 

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Evaluation Moments: Sparking a Legacy of Supporting Positive Change Through a Mindful Evaluation Practice

We all have moments when we ask ourselves a lot questions about what we're achieving. We wonder how and if the contributions we make individually and collectively are being valued or if they're considered insignificant. Are the resources we committed to produce some sort of change are the right resources? Are we really producing evidence and results that will establish a legacy of positive change? And hey, maybe it’s as simple as “why the heck are we doing this in the first place?”

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Think Large, Act to Enable the Small

The statement that resonated with me throughout the ABCD: Healthy Neighbourhood, Healthy Cities conference in Edmonton (May 28-30), was made by Cormac Russell, “nothing for us, without us.” As an employment coordinator working with individuals with disabilities, we pride ourselves on our focus on “person-centered planning” and “individual service plan goals”. We constantly think how we can improve our practices so that we can better serve those in our program, and help them reach their goals.

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