City of Powell River, qathet Regional District (qRD) and Tla’amin Nation will benefit from $50,000 in provincial funding for poverty reduction plans and projects.
According to a media release, the poverty reduction work is built on the 2019 regional poverty reduction report, with the key principles of affordability, opportunity, reconciliation and social inclusion. The release states that the report involved key sectors of the community, including the three governments in the region, people with lived experience, plus Vancouver Coastal Health, Lift Community Services and First Credit Union.
Regional poverty reduction initiatives include plans to develop poverty reduction strategies, projects to improve food security, develop affordable housing, increased access to public transportation, and highlight available resources and related initiatives, according to the media release
“The conversation around poverty is not new to this region, but a longstanding one,” stated regional social planner Kai Okazaki. “This program will help fund our first-ever regional poverty reduction plan. Taking this exciting step marks an important milestone for the city, qRD, and Tla’amin Nation. This plan will bring a shared regional vision for poverty reduction, how we collectively plan to address this work, and develop actions to support the work needed here today and moving forward.”
The initiatives are anticipated to be completed within one year.
The BC government released the province’s first ever poverty reduction strategy called TogetherBC: British Columbia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy in 2018. The strategy has set goals to reduce overall poverty in BC by 25 per cent and child poverty by 50 per cent by 2024, the media release stated.
The regional poverty reduction plan in the Powell River area is one of 29 projects across 54 local governments in BC receiving funding, ranging from $16,000 to $150,000, through Union of BC Municipalities. With grants from the poverty reduction planning and action program, these communities are receiving a total of $1.4 million, which is from a $5-million provincial grant to Union of BC Municipalities, according to the release.
