VCC discussed the impacts of the cost of living on both taxi drivers and households living on low incomes that rely on their services

Delicate balancing act as Calgary hikes taxi fares by 15%

Concerns about housing affordability are valid and work needs to be done

Is Calgary in an affordable housing crisis?

VCC sees a new City Council motion as as a positive step forward 

'There's a huge gap': Council to debate creating task force on affordable housing

Addressing misconceptions with some new resources

VCC's Meaghon Reid and Hagir Sail discuss how poverty exists despite being hidden in certain areas of the city with the Calgary Journal

Poverty profile paints a clearer picture of Ward 8 incomes

Mount Royal University professor Kimberly Williams weighs in on inequity and some solutions

Without emphasizing women, Calgary's post-pandemic recovery plan is doomed to failure

Should new policies be implemented to avoid debt loading Calgarians living on low incomes?

Vibrant Communities Calgary discusses rising power costs and how some policies are making things worse for those struggling 

Some Albertans could lose power as the province’s moratorium ends Friday

Vibrant Communities Calgary executive director says some households are making sacrifices to tackle expenses

Heat, power could be shut off on Friday for Alberta households behind on utility bills

PODCAST: Child Care, Women, and the Economy

For the over 20% of Canadians with inadequate coverage, universal pharmacare would mean not having to sacrifice other necessities

VCC discusses how even small price hikes can have impacts on those living in poverty

Cost-conscious retailer is raising prices

Jurisdictions around the world are proposing safeguards, but the trick is getting it right

With the rise of the gig economy in Canada, is it time to rethink this type of work?

With prices at the gas pump and utilities continuing to rise, more people are finding it hard to keep up

Meaghon Reid comments on the health, housing and child care proposals part of the agreement and says the details are what will matter  

The federal Liberals and NDP have signed an agreement to ensure confidence remains in the government through to 2025

New spending priorities don’t address issues that matter to struggling Albertans

Alberta Budget 2022’s business as usual approach falls short 

Meaghon Reid discusses the rising cost of living and how struggling people are making tough choices 

VCC discusses affordable housing need with Global News

Federal government announces $38M to build affordable housing units for Calgary seniors

A future for child care that supports work and life

Adult Literacy and Foundational Learning 

The urgency of poverty among Indigenous peoples in Calgary cannot be overstated. Along with Enough for All collaborators, the Indigenous Advisory Committee is working intentionally with the Indigenous community to develop an Indigenous Poverty Reduction Strategy.

All Indigenous People are Equal Participants in Calgary’s Future

In this episode, Jaclyn Silbernagel sits down with Lee Stevens, policy and research specialist with Vibrant Communities Calgary to explore basic income. What a basic income could mean for Canadians and how it could have a positive impact on our social support systems.

In this episode, Jaclyn Silbernagel sits down with Lee Stevens, VCC’s policy and research specialist and this episodes’ co-host alongside Nevena Ivanovic, public policy coordinator with the Women’s Centre of Calgary and Andrea Cox, manager of government relations with YW Calgary. Together they discuss women and the economy, child care in Alberta, and what’s working in regards to policy.

Episode 10: Child Care, Women, and the Economy

In this episode, VCC’s Meaghon Reid sits down with the CEO of The Alex, Joy Bowen-Eyre, to explore what it means to provide dignified services, how food is a convenor and community builder, and how progress comes from investing energy into policy and advocacy. 

In this episode, Jaclyn Silbernagel sits down with Hagir Sail, Community Facilitation and Engagement Specialist with Vibrant Communities Calgary to explore allyship. 

In this episode, Jaclyn Silbernagel sits down with Celestina Akinkunmi with the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association (CIWA) to explore settlement and integration services in Calgary.

In this episode, Jaclyn Silbernagel sits down with Vibrant Communities Calgary and EndPovertyEdmonton’s Executive Directors to get their perspectives on poverty reduction and the future of Alberta.

Episode 6: No Battle of Alberta when it comes to Poverty Reduction

In this episode, VCC’s Meaghon Reid sits down with Momentum’s Jeff Loomis to talk about financial empowerment, innovations like the QUBER Savings App, skills training for the growing tech industry and more.

Episode 5: Building Assets Brings Opportunity

In this episode, Jaclyn Silbernagel catches up with Sue Gwynn from Poverty Talks! to chat about the importance of engaging with the voices of lived experience. Hear about why Poverty Talks! challenges perceptions around poverty, how models and systems keep people in poverty, and why poverty is a trap.

In this episode, VCC’s Executive Director Meaghon Reid sits down with Mayor Naheed Nenshi. Mayor Nenshi is one of the original champions of the Enough for All strategy and emphasizes how ‘my neighbour’s strength is my strength.’ Listen to them discuss priorities for Calgary and poverty reduction and their optimism for the future. 

Episode 3: My Neighbour’s Strength is My Strength

In this episode, VCC’s Executive Director Meaghon Reid sits down with Karen Young, president and CEO of the United Way of Calgary and Area, to discuss how community partnerships deliver dividends in the poverty reduction space. The United Way is a leader in developing key partnerships that drive results. Get to know what the United Way has learned from initiatives like Community Hubs, how businesses are evolving around social purpose, and how they’re taking community action on mental health.

Literary specialist Berniece Gowan discusses how improving literacy levels can shift the needle on poverty reduction.

The knowledge circle is not a test; it is a resource meant to be used to help you learn and unlearn your level of awareness about the Traditional Treaty 7 territory and Métis Region 3 in and around Calgary. Awareness is only a beginning step to fostering and mobilizing work of reconciliation. The actions we take after we welcome and embrace deep levels of awareness is where the real impact and change can flourish 

Treaty No. 7 was the last of the numbered treaties negotiated and signed during the 1870s. The treaty covers the southern part of present-day Alberta. From the government's perspective, the need for Treaty Seven was immediate and simple. As part of the terms of bringing British Columbia into Confederation in 1871, the Canadian government had promised to build a trans-continental railway within ten years. Such a line would have to traverse the newly- acquired western territories, through land still nominally in control of Indian tribes. Huge land concessions would need to be offered to the company building the railway and later, the existence of the line would encourage large-scale immigration to the western prairies. 

In this video, hear from members of the Indigenous Advisory Committee who share their thoughts on the following, "What do you think are the biggest accomplishments towards poverty reduction for Indigenous peoples?", and "Where to you think we continue to struggle to have an impact?"

Videography by Trevor Solway (Solway Entertainment) 

Special thanks to Joanne Pinnow, Lee Stevens, and Buddie Dixon.

Enough for All Evaluation 2018: Indigenous Advisory Committee

Enough for All is Calgary’s community-driven poverty reduction strategy. As a part of the 2017 Evaluation of the work of Enough for All, the following video highlights the work of the Indigenous Advisory Committee and was created to incorporate an oral component into the evaluation report.

To develop the approach, the evaluators partnered with VCC staff and the Indigenous Advisory Committee to discuss how best to represent the work and present the impact in 2017. 

Footage was captured at two events May 30, 2017 and October 12, 2017 called "Reconciliation Journey – Walking at Path Together".

2017 Evaluation Highlights from the Indigenous Advisory Committee

George Brookman, a businessman and volunteer, met with Pamela an Indigenous community partner who is an advocate for education, wellness and volunteering. George and Pamela discovered they share a desire for giving back to the community and helping those in need. 

Dwight Farahat is a spoken word poet and freestyle emcee who hails from Calgary, Alberta and has roots with Siksika First Nation.

On October 12, 2017, the Enough for All Indigenous Advisory Committee held a conference titled "Reconciliation Journey - Walking a Path Together" in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Reconciliation Journey - Walking a Path Together

Reconciliation Journey - Where do you go to get grounded and reconnect?

Tyler Makinaw is an Indigenous Liaison at Calgary Legal Guidance.

Sherry Hiebert Keck, Managing Director, Louise Dean Centre - Catholic Family Services (CFS) answers the question, "Where do you see CFS on the journey to reconciliation?"

Reconciliation Journey - Sherry Hiebert Keck

The event was attended by 150 people from businesses, government, non-profits, and the community.

Together they shared stories and experiences around reconciliation, the past, the present and the future.

Casey Eagle Speaker, Aboriginal Resource Coordinator at Hull Services, answers the question, "What changes have you seen Hull Services around Indigenous relations?"

Reconciliation Journey - Casey Eagle Speaker

Speakers were asked the questions "What grounds you?" "Where do you go to reconnect with your culture, with the creator?"

Daisy Giroux from Untied Way of Calgary and Area answers the question, "What do you think of the shift from education to intergenerational trauma at the United Way?"

Eugene Brave Rock, Actor, answers the question, "If you were the head of Indigenous film and television in Canada, where would you send filmmakers?"

Reconciliation Journey - Eugene Brave Rock

The Calgary Poverty Reduction Initiative - Aboriginal Strategy is the fourth goal of the CPRI Strategy. The Issue Strategist was hired in mid-January 2014 to develop this goal. To assist with the development an Aboriginal Advisory Committee was identified to support the Issue Strategist. The Issue Strategist reached out to many organizations working with the Indigenous population within the City of Calgary and was invited to participate in many advisory committees where information was shared and relationships were established. The relationships established helped identify issues and priorities to be addressed. The following solutions were identified to be the most critical in creating the transformative change that would begin the long-term strategy to support the Indigenous population of Calgary – the First Nations, Inuit, Métis, Status Indians, and non-Status Indians to be active participants in creating a meaningful space where Healing, Education and De-colonization programs would become a reality. The implementation of these types of programs would change the reality Indigenous people live in today. 

CPRI - Aboriginal Poverty Strategy Development

This Elder Protocol project is centered on Indigenous ways of knowing and doing. As the facilitator of this project, I have been blessed to work with our Calgary based Elders, knowledge holders and partner Cultural Mediators to make this happen. I am merely the gatherer of stories, and share the wisdom and words with you in hopes of fostering the ethical space where we can make our community stronger together. – Monique Fry, Xwchíyò:m Band, Stó:lō Nations 

First and foremost, we would like to acknowledge the Creator, our ancestors and those who will come after us as providing the sense of spirit and intent for this work. We also would like to acknowledge that this project is centred on the Treaty 7 First Nation territories shared by the Blackfoot Confederacy- Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai, the Tsuut’ina Nation, Stoney Nakoda and the peoples of the Metis Nation who also call Mohkintsis their home. 

This document is not meant to be a prescriptive piece that will teach you how to engage with Indigenous Elders in a step-by-step format. This is meant to set the stage for community to build relationships and understand what each other’s roles are in that relationship. It is a very difficult task that we have to put the wisdom and knowledge that we shared in circle together over the year into words on a paper. Given the unique and diverse makeup of our community in Calgary and our Elders, we sought to provide a perspective that highlights the universality of their spirits, knowledge and ways of living. 

Learn more about the steps taken to advance the development of an Indigenous gathering space within the City of Calgary

Not filing your taxes? You could be missing out!

Public transit must be connected, convenient, accessible, and affordable

Transit – moving the conversation beyond ‘affordable’

2020 Evaluation Report highlights progress in poverty reduction

Building Back Better – Enough for All in action

Collective impact and collaboration at the centre of reducing poverty in Calgary

Enough for All Changemakers constantly ask ‘what’s possible?’

Highlighting the experiences of poverty in all 14 wards of Calgary

Evaluating our collective progress towards achieving Enough for All in 2020

Laying Bare Inequities: COVID-19, Gender, Race and Precarious Employment

Reflecting on Basic Income Through the Lens of Poverty Reduction

Combating poverty in the earliest stages of life

Overcoming Stigma: Poverty is Not a Choice

Indigenous Strategy

Overview

Enough for All Indigenous Learnings

Key Topics

Resources

Indigenous Knowledge Circle 2020

Treaty Land Acknowledgement

Enough for All Evaluation 2018: Indigenous Advisory Committee

2017 Evaluation Highlights from the Indigenous Advisory Committee

Challenge Poverty YYC: George Brookman

Reconciliation Journey - Dwight Farahat

Reconciliation Journey - Where do you go to get grounded and reconnect?

Reconciliation Journey - Tyler Makinaw

Reconciliation Journey - Sherry Hiebert Keck

Reconciliation Journey - Walking a Path Together