Leaders needed to fight poverty

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Winnipeg Free Press, Monday January 7, 2008
Reproduced with permission.
Photo: Wayne Glowacki /Winnipeg Free Press

THE United Way is still looking for Winnipeggers to take a leadership role in fighting poverty.

As of Friday, the organization still needed 178 people to sign on at the leadership level of giving to meet the Leadership Challenge.

The challenge was issued by 10 longtime supporters who pledged to give an additional $250,000 collectively if the United Way could find 2,150 leaders to donate $1,200 or more to the organization.

If successful, the money from the challengers will go towards poverty-reduction strategies.

Mark Chipman is a longtime United Way volunteer who sits on the organization's Major Donor Cabinet as well as the Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council.
He said the challenge is important because like many United Way chapters across North America, they are relying on a smaller donor base while trying to raise more money to meet the needs of its partner agencies.

"The rationale behind the Leadership Challenge was to get more people to give to the United Way and broaden the net," Chipman said.

Also important, Chipman said, was that the money pledged by the challengers will tackle poverty.

"If we expect our city to grow as it has, we can't turn our backs on the increasing poverty in this city," he said.

"The money that has been pledged is going to go towards proven poverty-reduction strategies," Chipman added.

One of the strategies the United Way supports is asset-building programs, which are offered at seven of its partner agencies.

Karon Chester is an employment developmental worker who runs the two asset-building programs at Rossbrook House.

One of the Saving Circle programs is geared towards employees at Rossbrook while the other is offered to people in the community.

She helps participants gain control of their finances as they attend workshops on things like budgeting.
"I like the fact that I'm able to impart knowledge about how to handle their money," Chester said.

When the workshops are completed, participants start putting what they've learned into action as they start saving money.

Both of the Saving Circle programs at Rossbrook match what the participants save 3 to 1.

For the community program, participants have six months to save $250, receiving $1,000 at the end to put towards something they need like furniture, a computer or even dental work for their children.

For the employee program, they have three years to save $1,000, so at the end they have $4,000 to put towards a down payment on a home, post-secondary education or a small business.

Chester said the programs have a direct impact on participants, as they gain self-esteem and confidence.

"It's amazing when I look at where they're at before they start the program and where they're at afterwards," she said.

Chester said one of the most rewarding parts of the program for her is when participants are able to purchase what they need.

"I really believe that this program will impact them in all aspects of their lives," Chester said.
According to a 2007 report by the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, nearly two in five children will experience poverty in a six-year span and Winnipeg has a child poverty rate of 22.1 per cent.

It's just one more reason the Leadership Challenge is so important.

The $250,000 could provide more than 100 Winnipeggers the opportunity to participate in an asset-building program, pulling themselves out of poverty and moving them towards financial stability.

"The most meaningful approaches are going to be the ones that give people the skills to get themselves out of poverty," Chipman said.