Nearly a dozen people came out last week in Carman to help find solutions to poverty in Manitoba. Feedback from the workshop will be submitted to the province's new poverty reduction strategy.
    
Spokesperson Karen Tjaden said she feels local citizens have a responsibility to be engaged in this process.

"We do a lot of good charitable work in our communities responding to people's immediate needs...we're very generous and we're known for that in this area. I think we're also responsible to look at more long-term solutions so that some citizens aren't held back by poverty while others do well and excel in our community."

She explained the conversation around the table wasn't just about academic ideas on how to reduce poverty, but rather it focused on what people have experienced in Carman.

"People talked about their own experience of poverty, they talked about family members' experience of poverty."

"People were really talking about the everyday impacts on individuals and families and our community. They could see the bigger shadow that's cast by poverty and the cost that it has...and how much energy and time it takes away from people working for good," she added.

Tjaden explained that the workshop also focused on finding real solutions rather than just identifying problems.

"We have environmental challenges, we have recycling challenges, we have transportation needs locally and in-between communities and then people said that those were also employment opportunities."

She added a number of ideas were also generated on how local and provincial resources could be shared more fairly in areas including housing, education, mental and physical health, and food security.

As part of it's feedback to the Province, Tjaden noted the group is also encouraging the government to make social investments that will pay off in the long-run. She says this includes support and a proactive approach to prevention, families, education, child welfare and childcare.

The deadline for submissions on Manitoba's new poverty reduction strategy has been extended to February 23, 2018.

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