Light Up the Streets takes place Feb. 22
Central Station Community Centre intends to “bring poverty to light” next month as it marks Poverty Awareness Month in Winkler.
They have three big events on the schedule designed to foster discussion about the needs in our community and raise awareness about the work being done by Central Station and its partners, says social impact director Krista Rempel.
“Poverty often is not as visible here as it might be in more urban areas,” she says. “We want to bring it into the light, because we think everything starts, every solution starts, with awareness. The more people that we can get involved in solution-making and action, the better.
“We believe that our community is very self-sustaining and very creative and very empathetic. And so we know that there’s lots to be done if we can get the community involved and aware of what the actual issues are, what are some of the underlying causes and effects of the poverty that we’re seeing.”
The community centre will kick things off with the launch of its social impact report on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 3 p.m.
Central Station staff have been compiling data on exactly how local initiatives are addressing poverty and the significant return on investment for the community. The report will provide a powerful narrative on how collective efforts are driving change, Rempel says.
“How many transportation events have happened? How many muffins have we baked in a year? Everything that we’ve done, we want to put a number on it,” she explains. “Some of those items we’re also putting a value on so that we can see what the cost to the community would be.
“And then the other big focus that we have is collaborations. We want to show how many people or how many agencies are working together in the community to create solutions for people,” Rempel says. “Some of the numbers are quite surprising, and I think people are going to be quite interested to see that a lot of the work in poverty is being done by people already, so we’re really just interested in pumping it up a notch.
Next up, on Thursday, Feb. 20, local leaders will participate in a Poverty Simulation designed to immerse them in the challenges of living on a low income.
It’s often an eye-opening experience for participants, Rempel says.
“I think what always surprises people is how complex it is,” she says of the factors that might contribute to an individual living in poverty, and the uphill battle they often face to overcome those challenges. “There’s so many stigmas and typical scenarios that people think have led to someone being in poverty, and that’s just often not the case.
“What really is enlightening for people is learning that it’s a complex jigsaw puzzle. If you don’t have one right piece, then it leads to the next piece not fitting. And then you’re scrambling and you’re just living in a constant mode of survival rather than actually being able to devote time to bettering yourself.”
The simulation is quite effective at illustrating the day-to-day life of someone struggling to make end’s meet.
“People often come out of it very frazzled at the end of it because while they’re very capable and they’re very intelligent … none of those things help at the end of the day because poverty is holding them down,” Rempel says.
The simulation is open to anyone who wants to experience it. Contact Rempel via email to krista@winklercentralstation.ca if you’d like to sign-up.
Finally, the month wraps up with the Light Up the Streets walk on Saturday, Feb. 22.
It’s a new name for the third annual walk, but the purpose behind it remains the same.
“This year we really wanted to capture our theme, which is bringing poverty to light,” Rempel explains.
The walk will set out from Central Station at 5 p.m. and take participants on a three kilometre route through the city and back to the community centre, where they’ll be treated to a hot supper.
Everyone is welcome to take part, either individually or as a team, and collect pledges in support of Central Station’s programming. Volunteers are also needed to help ensure things go off without a hitch.
“You can walk, you can donate, volunteer—however you want to be involved, we’ll find a way for you to be involved,” Rempel says.
“I think it’s a really visible way to show the community what we’re doing. And we’re hoping the whole community will join us,” she says, noting that even if you can’t walk yourself you’re welcome to come show your support by cheering on participants as they make their way through town.
To register, head online to winklercentralstation.ca.
Central Station is hoping to raise at least $70,000 in pledges from this year’s walk. Last year’s event raised over $80,000.
