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Opportunities Waterloo Region’s aspiration is to be “A Community of Opportunity”. We ground our work in a Sustainable Livelihoods Approach that concentrates on building five kinds of assets: human, social, physical, personal and financial. We play three key roles – network facilitator, policy research and communications strategy lead, and project manager. We focus on increasing awareness of low income voices, on social policy change, systems change and research, on increasing employment opportunities for people experiencing challenges to employment and on shifting public attitudes to people living in poverty.
For more information on Opportunities Waterloo Region, visit their website here.
Uptake Is Improving for Free Education Money
Vibrant Communities initiatives across Canada are helping spread the word about the Canada Learning Bond. Low income families can get free money to invest for the education of their children, but uptake of the program has been slow as families don’t know about it or face barriers gathering the documents or starting the savings plans that are required to receive the grant.
The Maytree Foundation outlined some of the issues in their publication, Policy in Focus in 2010. SmartSaver.org is a program sponsored by the Omega Foundation, focused on improving awareness and access to the bond in Toronto. Recently, 60,000 Toronto households received vouchers outlining exactly what amount they could claim from the program. Business leaders have also supported the bond because better education leads to more prosperity for all.
Vibrant Communities Saint John is holding a bond blitz to raise awareness, while Opportunities Waterloo Region will host an event this month to promote the opportunity to low income families.
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