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June 21, 2002
Fight poverty together
Forum participants discuss a community action plan.
JAMIE BONHAM SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
We rise by raising others, and he or she who bends over to aid
the fallen, stands erect." (Rabbi Jacob Weinstein)
This was one of the inspirational messages voiced at Poverty Forum
Two, What Next? held by the Yad B'Yad Coalition on Poverty at the
Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver June 13. Approximately
100 people attended the forum to discuss concrete plans on how to
tackle the problem of poverty in the Jewish community. The forum
was a follow-up to a previous meeting on poverty and represented
a chance for organizations and individuals to provide direction
and assistance to the coalition's goal of alleviating poverty in
the community.
Zoe Gropper, a founding member of Yad B'Yad and member of the co-ordinating
committee for Yad B'Yad, opened the meeting. Gropper spoke of the
support the coalition has gained in the community and how the coalition
is an example of the diverse interests of the community coming together
to work on an important issue. Yad B'Yad consists of more than 20
Jewish organizations and associations, along with more than 80 volunteers,
whose purpose is to fight poverty in the Jewish community.
Lani Levine, chair of Yad B'Yad, recapped of the achievements of
Yad B'Yad to date, ranging from the establishment of community kitchens
to the distribution of free tickets to people who otherwise wouldn't
be able to attend events because of their cost. Levine emphasized
the title of the forum, "What Next?" She spoke of the
importance of continuing to strive for solutions to the problem
of poverty and said there are many challenges still to overcome,
primary among them being to raise the awareness of poverty in the
community as a whole.
"Let us work together to continue to change our community's
agenda, raise funds, develop services and lobby our government.
Without your involvement, we can't go forward," said Levine.
One of the keynote speakers, Shane Goldstein, a member of the Federation
of Advocates for People with Special Needs Committee, spoke of the
difficulties facing poor Jews with disabilities and of the need
for the community to "step up to the plate" and start
acting on the problem of poverty.
The other key-note speaker was Ruth Meta, an activist from Vancouver's
Eastside. She discussed the tradition of giving in the Jewish community
and urged those attending to remember the celebratory side of the
Jewish faith and to incorporate it when dealing with the issues
of poverty.
"We as a people have known what poverty is, but we haven't
had a poverty of spirit," said Meta.
Michael Goldberg, director of research, Social Planning and Research
Council of BC (SPARC), was the last to address the gathering before
people divided up into action groups to discuss specific issues.
He spoke about the effects the recent provincial government cuts
have had on Jews living in poverty. He noted that one-third of the
total cuts made by the government occurred in the Ministry of Human
Resources, almost $600 million. These cuts have made access to government
aid harder, said Goldberg, and reduced the amount of money received
by those in need. He added that indirect cuts, such as the cuts
to child care and the changes to the Employment Standards Act, greatly
affected the working poor. One of his messages was that those who
live in poverty are facing a much tougher time than they did before.
Discussion groups of around 20 people each were formed to provide
a chance for those attending to share their ideas and experiences.
Each group focused on a specific issue relating to poverty in the
community, such as health and well-being, communication, housing,
education and employment, and advocacy. The discussions gave community
members an opportunity to direct the coalition's goals.
Beverly Kort, president of the Jewish Family Services Agency, summarized
the results of the talks. She identified two recurring themes. One
was a sense of frustration that concrete action wasn't happening
fast enough; while community discussions are important, there needs
to be more done right now. The second item was the feeling of forum
attendees that the reality of one in six Jews living in poverty
had not been embraced by the community and that achieving the goals
of Yad B'Yad, namely to ease the effects of poverty, would not be
possible until the whole community buys into providing a solution
to this reality.
Rabbi Ross Singer gave the forum's closing address. He stressed
the importance of ensuring that everyone in the community could
live with dignity, and that dignity could only be achieved with
the help of the whole community.
Those interested in learning more about Yad B'Yad or volunteering
their services and knowledge can visit www.jfgv.com,
e-mail [email protected] or call
604-257-5100.
Jamie Bonham is a freelance writer living in Vancouver.
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