About 70 people turned out at a community forum on Wednesday to provide their thoughts on how best to tackle poverty in central Alberta.
The forum at Red Deer Resort and Casino was hosted by Action for Prosperity, a joint initiative of the Central Alberta Poverty Reduction Alliance and United Way Central Alberta.
"What we did was we reviewed the four actions that the Community Cabinet are considering to get feedback," said project lead Lori Jack.
The Community Cabinet was formed after the first community forum in May and is comprised of leaders from business and central Alberta’s public and social sectors.
Those attending were encouraged to offer their insights and their takes on the challenges and opportunities in ongoing efforts to reduce poverty in the region.
One action is called "Upscaling for Poverty" and is focused on identifying where there are gaps between the training and education provided by employment readiness programs and the skill sets the business community is seeking.
The goal is to improve access to local upscaling programs and connect the business community to the talent coming out of those programs.
An action billed as "Prosperity Employer" aims to help area businesses identify ways to boost prosperity by helping them recognize inequity while empowering their workforces.
"Prosperity Fund" is intended to support newly hired workers with the costs of starting a new job, such as transportation, child care or buying the necessary work clothes.
"Prosperity Through Financial Empowerment" is designed to help families on limited incomes understand their finances, available benefits and how to plan for the future.
The community forum provided an opportunity for cabinet to fill in some of the blanks before choosing courses of action.
"There was more information that was needed so the community forum became a place to check in about is this the right path? What else do we need to know? What makes sense?"
Much useful feedback came back from the members of the public who attended, said Jack.
"That's what it's all about, community involvement to make a change in the community."
Consultants KPMG has been contracted to support the cabinet and will be preparing a report summarizing the input received at the community forum. It is expected to be available later this month.
"They will go back and gather that feedback so the cabinet can make decision on the courses of action they want to take that make sense now and into the future and what are the next steps," she said.
