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The Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction (HRPR) was co-convened by the City of Hamilton and Hamilton Community Foundation in May 2005 to understand Hamilton's high poverty levels, focus the community's attention on poverty and begin to find solutions. The Roundtable is chaired by Mark Chamberlain, and supported by a small staff. In March 2007, the Roundtable launched Starting Point Strategies as the road map to achieving a shared community vision of Making Hamilton the Best Place to Raise a Child. Strategies are matched to five critical points of investment as children progress through life:
- quality early learning and parenting
- skills through education, activity and recreation
- targeted skills development at the post-secondary level
- employment
- asset building and wealth creation
For more information on the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, visit their website here.
Hamilton Roundtable on Poverty Reduction wins Canadian Urban Institute Awards
Congratulations to the Hamilton Roundtable on Poverty Reduction for being recognized nationally at this year’s Urban Leadership Awards (ULA) which are awarded to individuals, groups and organizations that have made significant contributions to improving the quality of life in Canada’s cities and urban regions.
The Roundtable received the David Crombie Award – which recognizes people or initiatives that work collaboratively on solutions for complex urban problems – for its proven success in not just slowing poverty rates but actually reducing them by almost two percent in less than a decade. “By tackling poverty and making a difference the Hamilton Roundtable on Poverty Reduction has taught us all a lesson that is respected far beyond the Golden Horseshoe,” said CUI President and CEO Glen Murray.
This victory deserves celebration not only because it reflects the hard-earned achievement of hundreds of dedicated people and organizations across Hamilton, but also because it is a significant victory for each and every individual and organization across Canada who is actively working to pioneer coordinated poverty-reduction efforts in their community or neighbourhood.
At the recent Reducing Poverty in Ontario gathering in Waterloo, Mark Chamberlain, Chair of Hamilton’s Roundtable on Poverty Reduction reminded us that “poverty can be eradicated by refusing to accept arguments that helping poor people doesn't make economic sense.” Just as a successful business entrepreneur must be “unreasonable” and refuse to take no for an answer from investors, anti-poverty advocates “should invoke the same stubborn determination with government,” he said.
Hamilton’s victory is a victory for us all because it provides a powerful example that we can all point to when confronted by skeptics and cynics who believe that what we are striving for is not possible.
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By: Paul Born
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