There are many factors that go into the creation
of a good quality of life. Access to clean water and air,
decent food, shelter and clothing, education and life skills,
good health, networks of friends and families, and a sense
of hope for the future are all important components.
But at the very center of every person’s
quality of life is having enough of a sustained income - through
whatever source - to pay for the basic necessities of life,
to invest in the future, and to save for a rainy day.
There are at least four major “pathways”
for a person or family to a sustainable income:
- Market-based pathways that involve progressive
workplace practices, education and training opportunities,
and opportunities for self-employment income;
- Income support pathways that link residents
with serious barriers to full employment to government
programs that top up their modest incomes through existing
programs;
- Income from Financial Assets pathways that
provide opportunities for people to create, expand and
manage financial assets that strengthen their financial
security and establish a complementary income stream;
- Saved Income pathways that assist low income
residents to reduce the costs of major household expenditures
(e.g. housing, medical benefits, transportation, education)
and allowing them to stretch their limited budget.
Most people weave together incomes from all
four sources. How they do this varies across families, demographic
groups, and communities over time.
Low-income seniors in rural Newfoundland and Labrador,
for example, have different opportunities for patching together
a sustainable income than the income mix of a working poor
immigrant family in Calgary.
The challenge for communities interested
in substantially reducing poverty is to identify and use community-based
strategies that can maximize the opportunities for low income
families to create their own unique mix of sustainable incomes.
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The
purpose of the Sustainable Incomes Learning Initiative is
to identify and encourage communities to use community-based
strategies to increase incomes for low income residents and
substantially reduce poverty.
The objectives of the project include:
- To engage a broad and diverse group of participants
from communities involved in Vibrant Communities;
- To identify and share high impact strategies and initiatives
from best practice that communities can employ in their
local work;
- To provide practical resources (e.g., tools, research
paper, learning forums) to assist communities to integrate
high-impact, best practice strategies and initiatives
in their work;
- To identify and document results and lessons learned
about community-based strategies to expand income opportunities
for low income residents.
The expected timeline of the program is from
March 1, 2004 to September 30, 2004, though some peer learning
groups may continue their work beyond September.
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Each of the twelve communities participating
in Vibrant Communities can participate in the Sustainable
Incomes Learning Initiative. These are:
In each participating community, a lead
person will support the work of a local learning group and
facilitate their involvement in the various learning opportunities
offered in the Sustainable Incomes Learning Initiative.
Tamarack will coordinate the overall work of the Learning Initiative,
facilitating the meetings of Pan-Canadian theme peer-learning
groups, completing and sharing background research and providing
community updates on how communities are using their learnings
in their day-to-day work.
The
Caledon Institute of Social Policy will carry out research
on key topics and link the findings of the initiative to the
broader policy and evaluation work in Vibrant Communities.
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Sustainable
Incomes Tele-Learning Forum
This forum provided an opportunity for people
from up to fifteen communities across Canada to hear from
high profile leaders on this issue about the four major pathways
to sustainable incomes and to explore what that could mean
for their communities. Communities will have access to a presentation-study
guide they can use to continue to engage people on these issues.
For more on the tele-learning forum, please
click here.
Market Pathways
Peer Learning Group
This
peer learning group will explore the various types of strategies
communities can employ to ensure that low income residents
can better access job and business opportunities – and
that those opportunities offer decent wages and benefits.
Some of the key themes the group will review could include:
progressive workplace practices, small business opportunities,
and training-job search strategies.
For more about this peer learning group please
click here.
Financial Asset
Pathways Peer Learning Group
This peer learning group will explore the
various types strategies communities can employ to assist
low income residents to build and manage financial assets
that can provide short and long term income-earning opportunities.
For more about this peer learning group please
click here.
Income Support
Pathways Peer Learning Group
This peer learning group will explore the
various types of opportunities for low income residents –
particularly those that have difficulty in securing and maintaining
well paying jobs – to access federal and provincial
programs that provide extra, much needed incomes, and the
strategies communities can use to ensure eligible low income
residents access them.
For more about this peer learning group please
click here.
Saved Income
Pathways Peer Learning Group
When
money is scarce, money saved is just like money earned. While
many low income residents have learned to stretch already
thin budgets, communities can create significant opportunities
for such families to save substantial sums of money. This
learning group will explore those strategies and the ways
in which communities can employ them.
For more about this peer learning group please
click here.
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