EndPoverty Edmonton

The Edmonton Social Planning Council has just recalculated the living wage for 2016. $16.69/ hour is the rate that Edmontonians need to make to adequately live in our city.

Today is National Aboriginal Day, a day for all Canadians to celebrate the cultures and contributions to Canada of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.
Check out the list of events going on around Edmonton.
http://www.edmonton.ca/…/sched…/national-aboriginal-day.aspx

Check out the recent opinion piece from one of EndPovertyEdmonton's task force members.
"Having a bold goal is absolutely essential in striving to achieve it together as a community. It fundamentally shifts how we address the complex systemic nature of poverty .. it is a rallying call to the entire community that acknowledges that no single person, organization, political party or government can do this alone. It will take of all of us."

An interesting concept from Australia: A ‘Sleepbus’ that provides Homeless Australians (and Their Pets) a safe place to sleep.
Another cool example of the power of crowdfunding.

Join Councillor McKeen as the Urban Isolation/ Mental Health Initiative presents the "Hello, How are you?" speaker series with Susan Pinker on June 21st.
Get your tickets now!

Today we received financial support from City Council to start our second action in our EndPovertyEdmonton Road Map: Establish a Community Development Corporation (CDC)
For more info check out on what a CDC is and what kind of impact it will make check out our news blog.

Great article on how the new provincial and federal child benefits will make an impact in reducing child poverty.
"The federal government estimates that, once fully implemented, there will be 300,000 fewer Canadian children living in poverty in 2017 compared to 2014 (a reduction of about 25 per cent). The new provincial child benefit will further reduce child poverty for low-income Alberta families."

The Bissell Centre is currently looking to collect 2,000 pairs of underwear for homeless men and women.
Will you ‪#‎DropYourGonch‬ and help out?

The Government of Alberta is developing a strategy to improve the affordable housing system.
Please take the time to complete their survey if affordable housing is an important issue to yourself.

Please help Student Legal Services advocate for record suspension reform.
High application fees for a record suspension unnecessarily penalizes low-income Canadians by making the process inaccessible and can leave people with criminal records that makes finding employment near impossible.
http://www.slsedmonton.com/education-reform/legal-reform/

What a great week for EndPovertyEdmonton!
Unanimous approval from Edmonton City Council on the Implementation Road Map and news from the Province that they will partner with us to implement our first action, a low-income transit pass.

We are excited to announce our first direct step taken on the EndPovertyEdmonton Implementation Road Map: Action #18 A Low Income Transit Pass
Today the Government of Alberta and the City of Edmonton announced a shared investment of $12.4 million for a low income transit pass.
A fantastic example of what can happen when governments and the community work together towards the common goal of ending poverty!

We are thrilled to announce that Edmonton City Council UNANIMOUSLY endorsed our 5-year Implementation Road Map today. We know it will take all of us working together on the 35 actions if we are to make a difference. Can we Count you In?

Take a look at the great article by Elise Stolte on the newly released EndPovertyEdmonton Implementation Road Map.
We invite to to join us at 9:30am on Tuesday as we present it to City Council.

The Government of Alberta is reevaluating their commitment of raising the minimum wage to $15/ hr in light of the changing economic landscape. They are holding consultations to gather input for their next steps.
Please follow the link to attend one of these consultation sessions.
Register now as space is limited!

Please join us on May 24th as we present our Implementation Road Map to City Council!

Since December, when the EPE Strategy was unanimously approved by Council, we have been developing a road map that sets the direction that we, as a community, can take over the next five years. This community plan establishes 35 starting point actions that will kick start our generational goal of ending poverty in Edmonton.

We invite you to come out and show your support next week!

Over 900 people — including a city councillor and an MLA — lined up in Edmonton Sunday morning to get semicolon tattoos to raise awareness about mental health.

The Province of Alberta has proposed a new Bill that aims to put an end to exploitive payday loan lending practices.

“This legislation is an important step in breaking the cycle of poverty and debt for many vulnerable Albertans as it requires lenders to provide financial literary information to borrowers, reduces the high cost of borrowing, and requires loans to be repayable in installments” Mayor Lisa Holmes, President AUMA

Edmonton’s first Indigenous Youth Leadership conference was a recent success!

“We wanted to create something aimed at giving youth in the inner city, both indigenous and non-indigenous, an opportunity to learn about the shared history of Canada, indigenous leadership and most importantly to know that they’re not just isolated at their schools,”