Not only does work help financially but it empowers people to take control of their lives and rise above poverty
Homelessness is increasingly a problem in cities big and small across North America. Yet as business leaders we tend think the issue isn’t our problem – unless, of course, we have a business affected by a homeless camp, squatters in our doorsteps or addicts in our alleyways. We can’t comprehend why people aren’t working like…
Tim Richter of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness talks about the need to tackle poverty and policy with committed leadership
Tim Richter is president and CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness. What is the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness and what does it do? Richter: The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness is a charity founded here in Calgary in 2011 that leads a national movement of communities working together to end homelessness in…
Unbefriended,’ these isolated seniors require more help to safeguard their access to basic daily needs, including companionship, and improve their quality of life
By Stephanie A. Chamberlain and Carole A. Estabrooks University of Alberta What happens when a person grows older and can no longer make health and financial decisions for themselves – but also doesn’t have family or friends who can make those decisions on their behalf? Health and social services use a hard-hitting term to describe…
David Howard of The Event Group talks about being the leader in the concert and keynote speaker production industry
David Howard is ring leader of The Event Group. Tell me about The Event Group. How you started it and what it does? Howard: I started The Event Group in 1997 with my then-business partner Jim Button. We saw that there was a need in the marketplace for an event company that produced events through…
Money budgeted for an elevated greenway for walkers and bikers should go to housing the homeless or easing traffic congestion
Vancouver is a great city. For people like me who use their feet for most of their transportation, it’s wonderful. But sometimes city decision-makers go overboard. For recreation and exercise, there’s the 28-km seawall, part of which circles Stanley Park. It’s been voted the best place to run in Canada. There’s also the nine-km Arbutus…
Connie Jakab of Movement with a Message talks about addressing mental wellness concerns at home and in the workplace
Connie Jakab is a mental health speaker and owner of Movement with a Message. Tell me what Movement with a Message is all about? Jakab: Movement With A Message is about building community, courage and compassion in our society. We do this through school workshops, mental health presentations with our National Hope Talks division (nationalhopetalks.com),…
The tiny home villages concept comes with a complete social service program to help veterans with their transition to civilian life
The first Homes for Heroes village is moving forward in Calgary, with plans to build a similar project in Edmonton for Canadian veterans. The Homes for Heroes Foundation has announced that the City of Calgary has approved land redesignation for the first village of about 15 homes in the southeast Forest Lawn neighbourhood. “We needed them…
Developmentally delayed children come into a failing welfare system due to irresponsible parents placing substance abuse ahead of their children
More than half of Winnipeg’s Indigenous homeless population are former wards of Child and Family Services (CFS). A former CFS ward explained on CBC recently that the 50 per cent figure was too low, not taking into account the significant number of former wards who “couch surf.” This group relies on the kindness of acquaintances…
We need to address contributing factors to homelessness, including mental illness, addictions and poverty
Tonight, an increasing number of Canadians face the prospect of sleeping in a tent – not to welcome the summer camping season but as a last resort. Unlike regulated campgrounds, tent cities are without electricity, water and often bathrooms. These makeshift encampments appear to be on the rise with Winnipeg and Nanaimo, B.C., being two…
It’s more effective to supplement rents in times of high vacancy because each dollar spent gets the tenant more
In the recent Saskatchewan budget, the government made the surprise announcement that it would slowly phase out a rental housing assistance program known as the Saskatchewan Rental Housing Supplement. Given current rental housing market realities, the government ought to have done the complete opposite and expanded the program. High vacancy rates create a desirable climate…