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Together Nelson: A Community Based Action Plan to Reduce Poverty

Contributor
By Contributor
December 29th, 2020

What is the current state of poverty in Nelson?

What can we do at a local level to reduce poverty in our community?

These are questions members of the Leadership Round Table for Together Nelson have come together to better understand in order to create a four year action plan, complete with measures and targets, to reduce poverty in Nelson.

Nelson is a great place to live, but not everyone is thriving in our community.  In 2019, just over 1 in 6 of Nelson’s community members  (17%)* were living in poverty — that is 1,931** adults and children – friends and neighbors – in our community who struggle to make ends meet. 

Poverty touches all communities across Canada. 

However, rural poverty rates have consistently exceeded urban rates since the 1960s and the pandemic’s impact on employment has highlighted that many live pay cheque to pay cheque with no financial cushion to weather a sudden change in employment. 

On top of the many people experiencing poverty, many more are vulnerable to it.

 As part of Together BC’s Poverty Reduction Strategy funding was made available to extend poverty reduction planning to the local level and offer support to local governments to reduce poverty.  Nelson is one of 29 BC communities to receive Together BC funding. 

This funding, combined with funding from Columbia Basin Trust, is helping Nelson at its Best lead Together Nelson to bring together community members with living, or lived, experience, of poverty with thought leaders across Nelson’s business, government, indigenous & metis communities and community-based, non-profits to help steer the design and development of the Action Plan.

In 2021, community members across diverse demographics, local businesses, local government and government offices, along with social sector/non-profits will be invited to participate in community engagement activities to further inform Together Nelson about what the current state of poverty in Nelson looks like, to identify what changes our community would like to see that can address poverty at the local level, and to brainstorm and prioritize collaborative solutions than can be implemented that address and reduce poverty.

For more information, email bestofnelson@hotmail.com

  • * 12th Annual Report Card on Homelessness in Nelson, Nelson Committee On Homelessness (NCOH) 
  • **Based on BC stats 2019 population projection of 11,359 Nelson residents.

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