Tamarack Resource Library - Community Engagement - Poverty Reduction

We think these resources will be helpful tools for community-based poverty reduction projects. They lay out the whole process for you, step-by-step. But don’t feel trapped by them! They make suggestions and point the way, but please, adapt them to the needs of your community.

Debunking the Myths about Poverty in Canada

This power point presentation by Rob Rainer, Executive Director, Canada without Poverty discussed the links between work, education and family and poverty. It looks at the persistence of poverty in Canada, the growing gap between rich and poor and the relationship between poverty and welfare. Finally, it debunks the myth that poverty is too expensive to fix. Access the slides here.

Cost of Poverty and the Value of Investment (Canada)
This site, provided by the National Council of Welfare, looks at how much poverty costs us in other areas of spending like health, education and justice. NCW has gathered resources into a Comprehensive Bibliography, which is divided into three main sections: Canadian studies, American studies and International studies, and they also link to Ten Top Picks.

Low Income Cut-offs 2007, Low Income Measures 2006 (Canada)
This report from Statistics Canada Low incorporates a detailed description of the methods used to arrive at both income cut-offs (LICOs) and low income measures (LIMs). It also explains how base years are defined and how LICOs are updated using the Consumer Price Index. Download the full report here. [Source: Statistics Canada]

Poverty USA - Education Centre
This education centre offered by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development provides suggestions and activities to teach elementary students, high school students, and adults about poverty and how they can reduce it. Poverty USA is a powerful website, compiling poverty facts, success stories, and the voices of real people living in poverty.

Techniques for Community Recovery & Renewal (Canada)
This guide offered by the Centre for Community Enterprise describes, with the help of real-life examples, how communities can reverse and repair damage done by poverty by using Community Economic Development, a comprehensive, long-term process of development which uses many community engagement principles. It covers planning, research, and implementation, plus special sections on particularly important sectors like health and culture. The Centre for Community Enterprise has many other helpful resources, from planning guides to benchmarks and indicators for evaluation. Their online bookstore is a great place to look.

Poverty Reduction How-To Guide (USA)
Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC) researches and evaluates poverty reduction schemes all over America (see what they’ve done in our “Effectiveness” section). They’ve put all their how-to guides here in one place. Most are guidelines for helping people in poverty find jobs, but some also use community building.

Pathways out of Poverty (USA)
The Mott Foundation’s Pathways out of Poverty program is one of our favourite examples of a community-based poverty reduction program. Mott concentrates on four goals: Improve Community Education; Expand Economic Opportunity; Build Organized Communities; and Other Special Projects. They focus on long-term, sustainable development, education, community empowerment, and collaborative solutions. This Snapshot of the program describes their grant-making process and how they decide which initiatives to support.