Over 100 people gather at Halton Leadership Summit on Poverty Reduction to talk about solutions in Halton

People who have lived with or are living in poverty helped lead the discussion of representatives from government, the non-profit sector, community agencies, school boards, the business community and local elected officials at a Leadership Summit on Poverty Reduction held at Halton Region on Monday, November 22, 2010. Participants at the event listened to guest speakers including Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr, Marc Hamel and keynote speaker Mark Chamberlain. Approximately 100 people participated in the day long event.

“People were shocked to learn that 8.5% of our neighbours in Halton live below the poverty line,” said emcee Anne Swarbrick, Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity Halton. “Equally shocking were the first hand stories from people that challenged our stereotypes about those living in poverty. Business representatives pointed out that if their systems were as fractured and problematic as our social systems, they’d re-engineer them with haste. A clear consensus emerged to create a multi-sector task force focused on working for change: change that will improve the health of our communities for all of us. It is a New Year’s resolution on which people were unanimous in their call for action.”

In his keynote speech, Mark Chamberlain, President and founding partner of Trivaris Ltd., spoke of his experiences as Chair of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction. In addition to his extensive background in the private sector, Mr. Chamberlain has been very involved in the efforts to reduce poverty in Hamilton. He shared his insights with the audience including his thoughts on poverty and that the answers to this issue are not as complex as one might think. He encouraged the audience to think about poverty in simple terms – improving access to food, affordable housing and a liveable income will result in improvements in health. He cited the importance of investing in children and the positive impact that can have on families who live in poverty. Mr. Chamberlain also expressed disappointment with the 25 in 5 formula that the provincial government has committed to fearing that only a 25% reduction in poverty will leave many children still without basic necessities.

Following the keynote speech by Mark Chamberlain, participants listened to a panel discussion and asked questions of Liz Weaver from the Tamarack Institute, Marc Todd from the Niagara Prosperity Initiative, and Mr. Chamberlain. All shared their experiences working on initiatives aimed at reducing poverty in their communities. The panel discussion was followed by a table-top exercise called “Living the Math” which required participants to work out a monthly budget for housing, food and other expenses using income that is below the low-income cut-off range. The purpose of the exercise was to illustrate the difficult decisions that are made by people living in poverty. A person living below the low-income cut-off does not have enough money to pay for housing and/or food and/or other basic necessities such as heating, transportation, medication etc. and are therefore excluded from fully participating in their own community. For instance, a single person receiving social assistance has an income of only $585 per month.

To further illustrate the point, food boxes as part of the “Do the Math Challenge” were also handed out to participants at the Summit. A number of people left the summit committed to taking part in the “Do the Math Challenge” which requires participants to use the contents of a “food basket” from a food bank as their only source of food for three or four days. Those participating in the challenge include Gillian Tuck Kutarna, Halton District School Board trustee for Halton Hills, Regional Councillor Clark Somerville, Ted Arnott, Member of Provincial Parliament for Wellington-Halton Hills, Halton Region’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Bob Nosal, Halton Region’s Commissioner of Social & Community Services Sheldon Wolfson, Brennan Carson a board member of Food for Life Canada, Michael Bird the Bishop of Niagara of the Anglican Church of Canada, and Barbara Burton the CEO of the United Way of Oakville. The Halton participants can be followed at haltonddc.posterous.com

Throughout the day a number of people in the audience also spoke out about their experiences living in poverty in Halton. Their vivid and emotional descriptions of the struggles they face and the impact it has on their health and self-esteem were heartbreaking and courageous. Each person indicated they wanted to speak out because they wanted to make a positive change in the community. The most important lesson for the audience at the event was that the solutions to poverty must include the voices of those who live with it every day.

The Halton Leadership Summit on Poverty Reduction was organized by Habitat for Humanity, Halton Community Legal Services, Halton Region, Community Development Halton, The Community Foundation of Oakville, The Burlington Community Foundation and the United Ways of Oakville, Burlington and Greater Hamilton, Milton, and Halton Hills.

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