LEANING IN. Community Conversations on Poverty in Hastings Prince Edward
This community report on poverty is the result of an assessment of conversations held across Hastings and Prince Edward counties. The report identifies the issues, the causes, and solutions to poverty from over 400 conversations with people in our communities who know poverty from experience. The report identifies poverty as systemic and isolating, and as a factor greatly contributing to poorer health outcomes and increased stress and trauma. It speaks to the need for urgency, to the need for a rights approach, and for our community to take notice and to respond.
Rural Resiliency Report
Poverty is reaching crisis proportions in rural Ontario. Rural economies increasingly rely on tourists and seasonal vacationers (campers, bikers, boaters, fishing enthusiasts, hunters and cottagers) as local industries and family farms go out of business. Many people leave rural areas to find work, while those who stay have limited employment options. Too often the reality is hidden poverty, food insecurity, transportation problems, homelessness and under- or unserved mental health and addictions challenges.
Final Evaluation Report for Creating Community Project
Creating Community was a three-year project of the PRT, funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation with the Community Development Council of Quinte taking the role of lead agency, intended to change the way our communities think about and respond to poverty.
Over the course of the Creating Community Project, the PRT undertook 4 main activities in order to facilitate the development of an innovative framework and plan which would support sustained action for poverty reduction. The four activities were:
- People with a lived experience of poverty were engaged and empowered to lead the programs and services that affect them;
- Multi-sector relationships were developed, and diverse voices were heard regarding poverty reduction in Hastings and Prince Edward counties;
- A greater awareness of poverty and capacity was built within HPE communities to better understand the complex nature and impact of poverty;
- Processes evaluated, mechanisms created and opportunities for action identified.
This report provides further information about the project and its outcomes.
Coming Together: Addressing Rural and Urban Poverty in HPE, A Conversation Circle Report
In September 2017 the Poverty Roundtable HPE, hosted by North Hastings Community Trust, held a conversation circle to talk about poverty between the North and the South in our two counties and across our many communities. This report captures the discussions that took place on what poverty looks like here and provides further areas to be explored.
Consultation: Summary of Community Conversations on Poverty in Prince Edward County
Community Conversations were held in Prince Edward County in the fall and winter of 2016/2017. Local agencies and groups hosted conversations. Conversations engaged mothers, seniors, people who are working, people on social assistance, frontline workers, and community organizers. 52 people participated. This report provides summaries of conversations and collects the community recommendations put forward in the PEC conversations.
Calculating the Living Wage in Hastings & Prince Edward Counties – 2019
A living wage is based on the principle that full-time work should provide families with a basic level of economic security above the poverty line, to be able to live healthier lives and be active in the community. Using a standard approach provided by the Ontario Living Wage Network, calculation of the local living wage was done by the Employment and Income Security Working Group of the Poverty Roundtable HPE. The living wage calculation uses a reference household of two adults each age 35, a 7-year old boy and a 3-year old girl, and is based on both parents working 35 hours a week, full-year. The hourly living wage for Hastings Prince Edward was established as $17.35 for 2019.
Living wage employers recognize workers as more than just a cost to be controlled. They are a valued part of their success, and of the wider community. While it has not been possible to calculate 2020 living wage rates that would provide a useful representation of living expenses in the coming year, it is recognized that a living wage, and employers who pay it, are needed now more than ever.