Forum on Homelessness and Poverty
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Where:
• Da Vinci Centre Thunder Bay, 340 S. Waterloo St.

When:
• Thursday June 1st, 2006 – 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm
• Friday June 2nd, 2006 – 8:00 am until 5:00 pm

Keynote Speaker – Cathy Crowe
Cathy has been a Street Nurse in downtown Toronto and worked in the area of homelessness for over 15 years. She prefers to be called a Street Nurse – a term coined about 15 years ago by a homeless man at the corner of Sherbourne and Dundas in downtown Toronto. She points out that at that time there were only 4 or 5 street nurses in Toronto, perhaps even Canada, compared to probably 100 now, from Victoria to Halifax. That in itself makes a powerful statement about the extent of homelessness in our country.

In October 2003 Cathy received an International Nursing Ethics Award in Amsterdam. In January 2004 she was awarded the Atkinson Charitable Foundation’s Economic Justice Award and is now based at the Sherbourne Health Centre. She plans to devote the next three years to fight for a national housing program. Cathy follows the pulse of health issues affecting homeless people and over the years that has included reduced access to health care, overall deteriorating health, the return of tuberculosis, deplorable shelter conditions, the threat of SARS, and an escalating death rate. Along with remarkable colleagues, homeless activists and friends she has fostered numerous coalitions and advocacy initiatives.

In 1998 Cathy co-founded the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC) which declared homelessness a National Disaster. The disaster campaign is a three level campaign targeting federal, provincial and municipal solutions to the homeless disaster and housing crisis. Its signature 1% slogan refers to the demand that all levels of government commit an additional 1% of their budgets to an affordable, social housing program.

Forum
The Forum on Homelessness and Poverty is designed to raise public awareness and understanding regarding the issues affecting this sector of our community. Along with raising public awareness and understanding, the Forum, through a series of workshops, is designed to increase attendee’s capacity to Advocate for responsible Social Policy development.

The Forum will have an informal dinner on Thursday June 1st, 2006 followed by an address from our keynote speaker, Cathy Crowe.

A series of workshops will be held on Friday June 2nd, 2006 designed to increase participant’s capacity to advocate for responsible social policy as this pertains to poverty and homelessness. The specific workshops have not as yet been established so stay tuned for further information.

The Thunder Bay Homelessness Initiative is funded through the Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI) phase II.