LSPC Newsflash (Published Spring 2006)
Inside this Issue:
Finding A Place - A Community Forum on Income and Housing Security
Non Profit Library
The Haven House
211 Update
Building Social Inclusion by Combating Racism
Thunder Bay Economic Justice Committee
LSPC President's Message
CIRC Becomes an OSHNET Affiliate


Finding a Place: A Community Forum on Income and Housing Security
This forum 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. A keynote address will be given by Cathy Crowe.

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.

The community forum will take place on Thursday June 1st, 2006 at 6:00pm until 9:00pm and on Friday June 2nd, 2006 – 8:00am until 5:00pm at the Da Vinci Centre.

Learn More and Register


Non Profit Library
On Wednesday, March 29th, 2006 we celebrated the launch of the Nonprofit Library with an open house and a presentation by Felicity Heyworth, Public Service Librarian of the Imagine Canada – John Hodgson Library. Participants were provided with an overview of how to use the online catalogue and other website tools found on its information portal at www.nonprofitscan.ca.

Identifying existing research, reports, manuals and toolkits on any aspect of nonprofit and volunteer management, fundraising, corporate social responsibility, boards and governance and other issues relating to the nonprofit sector, and how to access them, were summarized for the participants in the audience. The new Community Collection, including the Canadian Directory to Foundations and Grants, is now available in our resource library and we invite everyone to utilize these valuable resources both online and in person for print materials.


The Haven House
The Haven House opened its doors in Thunder Bay as a response to the recommendations of a study titled Youth Homelessness in Thunder Bay: A Snapshot that was released in 2003. The six recommendations of this study were to:
• establish a youth-targeted outreach service that cover evening hours seven days per week,
• establish a youth centre to provide safe, free, emergency transition beds and supportive outreach services,
• give priority to at-risk youth requiring affordable, low income-subsidized housing through the housing services available in the community,
• develop an information booklet specific to youth services to be distributed within the community,
• establish a youth-at-risk coalition providing information pro-actively to children in elementary and secondary school,
• establish an emergency assistance fund specific to youth.
The Haven House worked to fulfill many of these recommendations.

However, because many of those living in Thunder Bay have been complacent for too long, ignoring the issues of affordable housing and homelessness in our community, the Haven House will be closing. With the recent announcement of the upcoming closure of this youth shelter, discussions regarding homelessness in Thunder Bay have fortunately begun to take place within the community. It is unfortunate, however, that it has taken the announced closing of a much needed community service, for the people of Thunder Bay to begin working for those that are now facing, or have faced issues associated with homelessness.

The need for people to support, and more importantly participate, in initiatives to combat homelessness is obvious in Thunder Bay. As far back as 2001, the statistics released in A Search for a Solution to Thunder Bay’s Rubik’s Cube identified homelessness as a major issue facing Thunder Bay. This study found that 28 men and women were classified as ‘hard core’, which means that they live on the street, in cars, under bridges, and so forth. This number does not seem particularly high, but keep in mind that people can, and do, freeze in the middle of a Thunder Bay winter without adequate shelter. Furthermore, the study showed that there were 1, 886 men, 745 women, 534 children and 154 seniors who are forced to find shelter at one of Thunder Bay’s shelters each year. These numbers are alarming, to say the least. Although this study is five years old, there has not been enough done in this community to combat the factors that lead to homelessness.

As our city’s economic base continually deteriorates, the number of individuals requiring affordable housing and facing homelessness will very likely grow. There is hope in the struggle against homelessness, but this can only be realized by each of us fulfilling our responsibility to come together as a community and advocate for responsible policy decisions, adequate fiscal commitments and innovative grassroots responses to homelessness. Without strong community initiative


211 Update
211 the easy to recall, highly visible telephone number which will be the “first stop” for information about community, government, health and social services. Simplifying access through 211 is especially important for remote communities, older adults, children and youth, people who are homeless, persons with disabilities, people who speak neither official language, individuals with low levels of literacy, and people incapacitated by crisis.

The implementation of 211 in Northern Ontario is moving along well. Jered Zieroth, the new project manager has been on the job since the beginning of February and is a welcome addition to the LSPC team. Jered was able to attend the 211 Symposium in Toronto in the beginning of February to hear and learn about the Toronto 211 experience and to hear about the exciting successful launches of 211 in Niagara and Simcoe County. 211 has proven to be a highly effective and efficient way to connect people up with human service. A recent Toronto Survey showed that 100% of callers were satisfied with the service and 95% of the callers where directed to the right service on the first call.

When funding is secured and the year long accreditation process is complete 211 is projected to launch in the Thunder Bay Area in June 2007 and then roll out into the 807 and 705 area codes over the next 5 years.

Building Social Inclusion by Combating Racism
Lakehead Public Schools, in partnership with LSPC, is contributing to the education resource package known as “Building Social Inclusion by Combating Racism”. The package was developed through the Social and Economic Inclusion Initiative and includes 20 lessons suitable for teaching about diversity and racism at the high school level, particularly as it relates to Aboriginal youth. Lakehead Public Schools has selected almost half the package that is most relevant to their social science curriculum to be further developed by teachers and will include educational assessment strategies and tools. In addition, 30 social science teachers will participate in an orientation to the newly developed resource packages. Through this process, the goal is that teachers will embrace this important resource, continue to update it and most importantly fosters social inclusion among students and teachers.

Thunder Bay Economic Justice Committee
The Thunder Bay Economic Justice Committee (TBEJC) consists of community members and agencies committed to improving the conditions for people living on low-income.
Its objectives are to:
• Provide an opportunity for people living in poverty to have a voice and speak out to identify needs and solutions
• Advocate for the elimination of the barriers to achieving economic security
• Increase awareness within the community about the issues of poverty and related risk factors
• Encourage and sustain meaningful interaction among service providers, decision-makers and community members.

TBEJC was formed in January of 2003 as a community response to the recommendations resulting from the Kimberly Rogers Inquest. Kimberley Rogers, a woman who was eight months pregnant, died of an overdose in 2002 while under house arrest for committing welfare fraud. Her crime was that she had collected social assistance while receiving a student loan in the hope that further studies would enable her to find work and make a contribution to society.

Three core goals help shape the activities of TBEJC, these are to increase social assistance rates, to increase minimum wage rates and to end the National Child Benefit Supplement Clawback.
Among its accomplishments the Committee has organized two community forums concerning low-income issues and has produced a video called “Poverty Line: The Face of Poverty in Thunder Bay”. Currently the committee is organizing video screenings with discussions to educate the public about the realities of living on low-income and is helping plan a third Community Forum, Finding a Place, in partnership with LSPC Homelessness Initiate.

TBEJC is supported by the Kinna-aweya Legal Clinic and funded by the National Crime Prevention Centres Community Mobilization Project.
Monthly meetings are held the last Monday of the month, 3:00 p.m. at the Canadian Mental Health Association. New members are always welcome. For more information call Melanie MacKenzie at 344-2478.


LSPC President's Message
On May 31st, the membership of the Lakehead Social Planning Council will gather for its 43rd Annual General Meeting. We are delighted that Cathy Crowe, the acclaimed Toronto-based homelessness advocate, has accepted our invitation to speak to our membership. Her views are expected to provide us with guidance as the LSPC continues its efforts to collaborate with like-minded agencies to combat homelessness through program development, accessibility of information and community engagement.

The AGM represents the most formal opportunity for engaging our members in steering the development of the LSPC. Specifically, the general membership will elect its Board of Directors – a highly significant task that will be coordinated by the Board’s Nomination Committee. A Board of Directors should include a balance of skills and perspectives that share the values and vision of the organization and collaborate towards common goals through their various backgrounds, expertise, networks and experience. LSPC members are strongly encouraged to contact Marie Klassen, Program Director to identify candidates who they believe would contribute towards the evolution of the LSPC and its programs over the next year.

The efforts of the current Board have focused on stabilizing the foundation of the LSPC operating model and its programs – a foundation which the next Board would build upon. The much-anticipated 211 Project is poised to introduce a significant service to our community, building upon the success of our Community Information and Referral Centre to offer a premium level of access to citizens seeking information and referrals. Our Homelessness Initiative has re-introduced a collaborative working relationship among like-minded agencies, as various agencies have come together to develop strategies, a forum “Finding A Place” on June 1-2/06,and an advocacy toolkit to assist agencies in their efforts to combat homelessness.

As we position ourselves for the future, we look to our past to provide examples of community successes facilitated by the LSPC. The 211 Project and the Homelessness Initiative are technology-enhanced and advanced versions of long-standing LSPC successes – CIRC and agency coalitions. This Newsletter contains examples of other projects that are re-positioning the LSPC to once again provide the supports required for program development and social service agency success. The next Board of Directors will have the opportunity to enhance these program directions by focusing on partnerships, community engagement, networks and a general desire for an inclusive approach to sustainable community development. Your involvement as a member of the LSPC is a key to our success. I urge you to contact me should you wish to discuss the future of our programs or organization.

Bruno Carella, LSPC President, Board of Directors

CIRC Becomes an OSHNET Affiliate
The Ontario Self-Help Network (OSHNET) has extended an invitation for the Community Information & Referral Centre (CIRC) to become an affiliate member. As one of 20 affiliates in the province, CIRC’s role will be to provide information and referral to self-help/groups and organizations; provide public access to self-help mutual aid resource materials (e.g.) starting a group, fact sheets, OSHNET Resource Kit and connect members of the public with other self/help mutual aid resources in the community. We will serve Thunder Bay and surrounding area. Affiliates also publish a local/ regional directory of self-help groups and organizations, provide outreach support to new and existing self-help/ mutual aid initiatives and collaborative partnerships projects. Please contact the Community Information & Referral Centre with information about new initiatives or changes in existing mutual aid groups so we that we can further build on our existing human service database @626-9626.