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Grassroots group set to open houses

September 1st, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Grassroots group set to open houses)

Nanaimo Transitional Housing group opens two houses for homeless people in Nanaimo this week

The Victoria Human Exchange Society has been successfully assisting people in need of housing for 19 years—and now the organization’s Nanaimo branch is opening two transitional houses, one for men and the other for women.

Community organizer and Nanaimo Transitional Housing chairperson Leanne Salter says the houses will provide shelter for up to six months to people who might come to Nanaimo and find that they are homeless, couch surfing, or unexpectedly without shelter. An on-site facilitator will assist with community service referrals and the search for stable housing. The transitional housing is drug and alcohol-free. (more…)

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A network for community activism

June 30th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on A network for community activism)

Eric Nordal launches SocialCoast.org to create an activist alliance that could help social, anti-poverty groups connect

Eric Nordal has launched a Victoria-based online gathering place for community groups and organizations to share ideas and resources with one another, as well as collaborate on campaigns and events. He says that various social movements that “seem very separate are actually connected in a lot of ways.”

We speak with Eric Nordal about SocialCoast.org. (more…)

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B.C. MLAs challenged to live on $610

June 9th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (0 Comments)

Raise the Rates says MLAs accepting the challenge would be engaging in real action research and gain understanding

Anti-poverty activists are challenging British Columbia’s elected provincial MLAs to take a challenge and live on $610 a month—the amount they expect many individuals living on welfare payments to get by with. But they’re only suggesting the well-paid politicians live for one month on an amount that is described by Jean Swanson as “keeping people in dire, dire poverty.”

The coalition wants welfare rates increased to the equivalent of what they were in 1986. The $700 a month a person might have received in 1986 would amount to about $1,300 today, over double the current rate. The group also wants inflation taken into consideration when rates are set. (more…)

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Dentists to volunteer at new clinic

April 7th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Dentists to volunteer at new clinic)

Community dental clinic in Nanaimo will provide dental care for people with low incomes

A group called Community Organized Dental Clinic, working with Volunteer Nanaimo, is about to open a dental clinic for people in the city who aren’t able to afford dental care. The group initially received a grant from the City of Nanaimo’s Social Planning Advisory Committee and it then worked with volunteer tradespeople to prepare a space for the clinic at 489 Wallace Street. The clinic, which was two and a half years in the planning and making, now has four volunteer dentists, but seeks additional dentists as well as other volunteers to schedule appointments and help with bookkeeping. (more…)

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Shelter strategy criticized

December 9th, 2010 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Shelter strategy criticized)

Nanaimo’s shelter and homelessness strategies need improvement, critics say

Extreme weather shelters in B.C. provide extra emergency shelter space during periods of winter weather when the health and safety of homeless individuals is threatened. Nanaimo’s low-barrier extreme weather shelter was opened earlier this year than in past due to changed  weather criteria. Despite the relaxed guidelines, one advocate wants to see a wet-weather shelter that is open more often. Community activist Wallace Malay has been lobbying the City of Nanaimo for a shelter that is open more often—or all winter long. He’s uploading videos to YouTube and circulating emails calling for a change in approach. (more…)

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Poverty knows no seasons

December 2nd, 2010 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Poverty knows no seasons)

But the weeks leading up to Christmas are vital for food banks, charities seeking public help

The public believes that homelessness and poverty are two of the most pressing issues in Canada today. Nearly two-thirds of Canadians ranked poverty, homelessness and related issues as the most pressing social problems in Canada, in a study by The Salvation Army. And over the last two years, food bank use in Canada has risen by 28%—an unprecedented rate of growth. HungerCount 2010—a report by Canada’s food banks—shows that the effects of the recession are still being felt across the country. (more…)

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