Living on Low Income in Charlotte County – Moving Forward

Fundy Community Foundation hosted a community dialogue on poverty in 2006 to bring together over 75 people from throughout Charlotte County to discover what poverty means in our community and to give the issue of poverty more visibility. Participants obtained a better understanding of the local barriers to people living on low income in Charlotte County, identified the community resources that are presently available to address them, identified gaps and also looked for community-based solutions for these issues. Over a third of the registrants stated they would like to be part of a committee to work toward improving the lives of individuals living on low income in Charlotte County.

Fundy Community Foundation was pleased to host in 2007 “Moving Forward”, a meeting of community members committed to implementing some of the ideas recommended at our community dialogue. Muriel Jarvis, past executive director of Family Plus/Life Solutions Inc. and currently the Administrator of Charlotte County Hospital facilitated our meeting. “The major objective of this meeting is to move us forward toward a goal of reducing poverty in Charlotte County. By the end of the day, we will create an action plan for this objective.” Muriel Jarvis, facilitator.

The Fundy Community Foundation is grateful for the generous support of its community partners, the Province of New Brunswick Regional Development Corporation and the Charlotte County Hospital who assisted with the hosting of this meeting. We would also like to thank our facilitator, Muriel Jarvis, Administrator of the CCH. Communities work better when they work together and we value all our partnerships.

Since then, FCF has convened meetings of organizations and individuals concerned with improving our community to work together to find ways to reduce poverty in Charlotte County. In order to better understand the nature and scope of poverty in Charlotte County, the Poverty Steering Committee will conduct a survey of individuals living on low income. Our goal is to involve the individuals living on low income and others in helping us find solutions because it is our firm belief that only by involving individuals who know the issues first hand will we, together, build a stronger community for today and tomorrow.