Kathryn's blog

A few years ago, when I was first visiting Ottawa, I was struck by the number of people living on the streets in the dead of winter. I now work for the Centretown Emergency Food Centre where I have experienced humility, kindness, patience and gratefulness beyond what one would expect from people living in such harsh conditions. These are the people that Canada’s social system isn’t doing enough to help. Read more »

I was born in 1989. That same year there was a unanimous resolution passed in parliament to end child poverty by the time I turned eleven. I am now 20 years old and little advancement has been made on this critical issue. I was fortunate enough not to be born into poverty but if I had been I would have spent my entire life not only waiting, but desperately needing the government to act on its promise. Read more »

On Friday, September the 18th, the City of Ottawa held a public consultation on a Proposed Ottawa Poverty Reduction Strategy.

The vision behind the strategy is “All residents of Ottawa living in dignity, in a community that fosters participation and inclusion for all.” It was founded on the beliefs that all residents of Ottawa must be able to meet their basic needs, that the community must come together to create change, and that there must be efforts to both raise awareness as well as concrete actions to reduce poverty. Read more »