We live in a community where there is enough for all.
Approach
Enough For All: A Community-Driven Strategy
- Philosophy ·
- Principles ·
- Goals ·
- Levers ·
- Translation ·
- Key Partners
Philosophy
Vision
Mission
We will create opportunities to align and leverage the work of hundreds of organizations and thousands of Calgarians to reduce poverty in our city.
Principles
Promoting shared leadership
Engaging voices of people with lived experience in poverty
Focusing on dignity of all
Increasing multi-sectoral engagement
Employing trauma-informed approaches
Mobilizing awareness and empathy of inter-generational trauma
Reducing racism and discrimination and promoting diversity in our practices
Offering relevant, accessible and timely services and supports
Implement the 94 calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Goals
The goals of Enough for All establish a clear line of sight to how we are approaching poverty reduction together. Our strategy is guided by the voices of lived experience with support from the Indigenous Advisory Committee and Poverty Talks!
Communities are essential to poverty reduction because they enable people to work together to address social and economic challenges. Communities also give people the network of support they need in times of stress, crisis or change. Increasing social inclusion and giving people a place to get together, make friends and be part of their community go a long way toward solving some of the basic problems that keep people in poverty.
Financial vulnerability affects many people in Calgary. Over the past several decades, wages have not kept up with the rapidly increasing cost of living. Most of those living below the poverty line belong to households in which at least one person is working. Many more are living above the poverty line, yet experience financial vulnerability due to low levels of saving and high levels of debt. To effectively address poverty, we must provide people with opportunities to earn sufficient incomes and build financial assets. This requires both financial empowerment and increased economic participation, as well as adequate income supports for those unable to find work, work full-time or work at all.
The urgency of poverty among Indigenous people in Calgary cannot be overstated. As stated in Article 1 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, “Indigenous peoples have suffered from historic injustices as a result of their colonization and dispossession of their lands, territories and resources, preventing them from exercising, in particular, their right to development in accordance with their own needs and interests.” In addition to the cultural, socio-economic, systemic and psychosocial consequences poverty has on a population, it stymies the long-term potential and progress of individuals and the larger community.
Levers
To achieve its three primary goals, Enough for All includes 10 Levers of Change that represent specific areas of focus that must be addressed if we are to reduce poverty in Calgary. These Levers of Change surfaced during consultations with Calgarians and in research into other poverty reduction efforts across Canada. Each Lever of Change has also been aligned with the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Everyone engaged in the strategy’s implementation must consider how these Levers of Change may express themselves uniquely for Indigenous people, women, youth, seniors, newcomers and refugees, and LGBTQ2S people in our community.
Key Partners
In January 2015, under a four year agreement between The City of Calgary, the United Way of Calgary & Area, Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC), and Momentum, stewardship of the Enough for All strategy moved from the Calgary Poverty Reduction Initiative Secretariat within The City of Calgary to VCC.
In May 2019, a three-year agreement was signed by The City of Calgary, the United Way of Calgary and Area, Momentum, and VCC to mark the continued implementation of the strategy in partnership with the community and jointly supported and funded by The City of Calgary and United Way of Calgary and Area. VCC continues as the backbone organization stewarding the implementation of the strategy.
