Human services and poverty

EDMONTON -Today, the City of Edmonton’s Community and Public Services Committee reviewed a report and presentation on the state of homelessness and the City’s proposed response to encampments, highlighting the Provincial Government’s lack of action on bridge housing, supportive housing, and emergency shelter services. In the face of this ongoing crisis, Public Interest Alberta calls for transparency and compassion through a human rights based approach to housing and homelessness.

EDMONTON - In response to the passing of Bill 78, the Alberta Housing Amendment Act, Public Interest Alberta’s Executive Director Bradley Lafortune issued the following statement: 

EDMONTON -  To mark National Housing Day, housing rights advocates gathered on the steps of the Legislature building to “evict” the provincial government for their doomed-for-failure affordable housing strategy and lack of urgency in addressing the housing emergency in Alberta. 

Following Minister of Seniors and Housing Josephine Pon’s tabling of Bill 78, the Alberta Housing Amendment Act, and the release of the provincial affordable housing strategy, Public Interest Alberta Executive Director Bradley Lafortune issued the following statement:

Over 160,000 or 1 in 6 children experience the all-encompassing effects of childhood poverty in Alberta – a staggering statistic which has been made even more dire by the dramatic economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. This report highlights the communities most affected by systemic poverty and lack of access to support services such as Indigenous communities, immigrants and refugees, and families in rural environments. It details the effects of poverty on the development of children, including issues affecting mental health, educational attainment, employment, and housing throughout their lives up to adulthood.

Read the new report from Public Interest Alberta, the Edmonton Social Planning Council, and the Alberta College of Social Workers. 

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In the news

COVID-19 has led to more children in poverty: report

Lethbridge Herald 

Pandemic is increasing child poverty

Toronto Star, reposted by Yahoo News  

EDMONTON - The Alberta College of Social Workers, the Edmonton Social Planning Council, and Public Interest Alberta have jointly released a report on the state of child and family poverty in Alberta, Spotlight: Lessons on Child Poverty in a Pandemic.

EDMONTON - Public Interest Alberta has debuted a new campaign which highlights the all-encompassing and devastating issues facing Albertan children living in poverty.

EDMONTON - While Don Iveson, the mayor of Edmonton, has retracted a statement that suggested that public transit might not operate in the city throughout the summer, two advocacy organizations are still ringing the alarm about the chronic underfunding and cuts to public services that have resulted in this dire situation.