Access to Basics focuses on people’s capacity to access the things that they need most. Among these basic needs are shelter, food, education, employment and health.
PSYE was launched in 2015 to mobilize a broad cross section of the community to improve unemployment and under-employment of 15-29 year olds in Ottawa, by increasing economic opportunities for youth (employment and entrepreneurship). The initiative is comprised of four inter-related strategies:
1. Building effective systems and cross-sector collaboration
NEW! Join us on September 16th, for the Youth Active Media FILM FESTIVAL! For all the details, and to register, see: https://www.universe.com/yamcam2016
BGFT is dedicated to increasing economic activity in Ottawa’s green renovations sector, and providing resources and information on green renovations to both the public and private sectors. As of January 2012, we have also been very excited to launch a new, more comprehensive employment program for young adults looking to enter the “green” home renovation and retrofit industries!
Watch the latest Video in the Green Home Renos Series!
Youth doing strategic research and getting involved to improve youth employment and other issues that matter to them. Youth Leadership for Change's Tackling Youth Unemployment and Underemployment forum happened on October 20th. Click here for a synopsis with pictures.
The Poverty and Hunger Working Group, the Ottawa Network for Education and the Social Planning Council of Ottawa came together for this policy project to increase access to healthy food for children and youth. The project provided a snapshot of the context in Ottawa and developed action plans to build on what already exists in the community - scaling up enablers and mitigating barriers to get more healthy food on the plates of Ottawa’s children and youth, particularly those living in low income. The project was made possible through a grant from the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Youth Leadership for Change is hosting a forum called "Tackling Youth Unemployment and Under-employment" as a follow-up to last year's report on Youth Employment, Unemployment and Under-employment in Ottawa. Come watch two groups of youth present findings from summer research and join the conversation on how to deal with these issues.
Grassroots ethnocultural groups are a critical factor in increasing inclusion and supporting the successful integration of immigrants, complementing settlement services and supporting families and individuals long after the settlement period, even into the second and third generation of settlement. However, despite a growing demand for their services, these groups have very limited budgets and rely primarily on volunteers.
The crisis caused by lack of access to healthy food for many residents, particularly those who are low income, is a key health priority which is well recognized and documented. In response, the SPC Board established a priority in 2011 to work to develop new programs to directly increase access to healthy food.
The Ottawa Neighbourhoods Social Capital Forum (ONSCF) was established in 2011 to support the building of strong and vibrant neighbourhoods. The ONSCF has three components:
Engaging residents in community development projects to improve issues which matter to the residents;
Creating changes in programs, policies and systems to support the neighbourhood issues
Evaluating progress and sharing learning
The Social Planning Council chairs the ONSCF and is responsible for the research and evaluation supports.
