Ideas brainstormed at a forum Thursday will form the basis for a strategy to combat child poverty at a follow up meeting set for Feb. 12, 2 p.m., at Beban Park.
More than 150 people attended Changing the Dynamics of Poverty for Children and Families forum at Beban Park and according to John Horn, an organizer and City of Nanaimo social planner, it was good to see the community interest in the topic.
“There seemed to be great energy around producing items that we might be able to put into an action plan and then implement, so that’s terrific because there were lots of knowledgeable people in the room,” said Horn. “It was a necessary start and it will be up to us to make sure we are able to harness that energy and momentum and turn it into actual concrete change.”
According to Joanne Bevis, organizer and Ending Poverty Together Coalition member, the ideas discussed included a reasonable or living wage that would allow people to meet the necessities of life – food, rent, child care and more.
“I think that before we do anything else, we really need to work on knowing how the money is spent for a family, of say four with two parents working and two children,” said Bevis.
When the wage has been calculated, Bevis said business owners would be approached to see if they would be willing to pay it, if they aren’t already.
“Once we can get some support and some publicity … I think that it can spread. Not that we want to attack little businesses who are barely making enough themselves and forcing them to do something, but there are many large businesses and organizations and so on that can afford to pay more,” said Bevis.
She said the coalition knows of families, with two working parents, that cannot afford to live on their current wages.
