Richmond will be drawing on people with “lived experience” in poverty to help identify how best to address issues faced by those who are economically disadvantaged.
A “Community Poverty Reduction and Prevention Table” is on the agenda for next week’s planning committee meeting.
It could include members of the Richmond Poverty Reduction Coalition (RPRC), Richmond Food Bank and CHIMO as well as Vancouver Coastal Health and the Richmond School District.
If approved by council, it will include three people with lived experience including one Indigenous person.
For RPRC, the important thing is to get the group set up, resource it properly, have people with lived experience at the table and look at things through a “poverty lens,” explained RPRC chair De Whalen.
She said she hopes the action plan and the prevention table make city staff look at everything – from procedures to programs to bylaws – through this “poverty lens,” that is, to see how any given city initiative affects people living in poverty.
It’s estimated 21 per cent of Richmond residents are living below the poverty line. This is exacerbated by the high cost of living, especially housing, in Richmond, Whalen said.
Having people who have lived in or are currently living in poverty explain to committee what they go through will “bring their view on what poverty is – it’s a complex issue,” Whalen said.
“It’s exhausting being poor – it’s really hard work being poor,” she added.
People who are in poverty struggle to simply participate in society.
“If you can’t afford to go for coffee with a friend, how does that affect your life,” Whalen said.
Richmond city council passed the “2021-2031 Collaborative Action Plan to Reduce Poverty in Richmond” and creating this group is one of the action items. City council is being asked to approve the terms of reference at next week's planning meeting.
