Pathway to Potential July 2021 Newsletter

July 2021: Information Sharing Edition

In this edition:

Lunch & Learn: Impact of COVID on Marginalized Populations
Income Remains Flat in Windsor but Low-Income Families on the Decline
City to Continue Measured Approach to Reopening
Be Back Soon Translated Posters
Play in the Park - Town of Kingsville
Youth Members Needed for the Youth Wellness Hub Advisory Committee
Community Family Fitness Centre is Now Open in Windsor
Y Works is Currently Recruiting
Camp Yomee Summer 2021
WEST Enhanced Language Training Program
In the News
Local COVID-19 Information & Resources

Lunch & Learn: Impact of COVID on Marginalized Populations

Vulnerable and marginalized populations in our communities have faced disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Join the Windsor Essex Local Immigration Partnership, WE Value, and Pathway to Potential to learn more about the impacts of the pandemic on Newcomers to Canada.

Thursday August 12, 2021

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

The event will be held over Zoom

Download a flyer featuring the Impact of COVID on Marginalized Populations Lunch & Learn.

Income Remains Flat in Windsor but Low-Income Families on the Decline

Statistics Canada released data on the 2019 Income of Families and Individuals this July. Median income edged up to $54,790 in 2019 and the share of Canadians in low income remained unchanged from 2018: 16.5% of Canadians were in relative low income in 2019.

As reported in the Windsor Star, the Windsor census metropolitan area lags $2,080 behind the national median, after-tax income, but the region has managed to move about a 1,000 families/individuals out of low-income situations. The median, after-tax income in the Windsor CMA in 2019 was $52,710.

The percentage of families living in low-income was 18.6% in 2019 and has remained flat compared to last year (18.5% in 2018).

The Windsor CMA reduced the number of families/individuals in the low-income category by 1.5 percentage points since 2014 (20.1% were living in low income in 2014). That was the sixth best improvement in Canada from 2014-19.

City to Continue Measured Approach to Reopening

The City of Windsor is taking a measured approach to reopening, including renewed access to municipal services and facilities, as the province moves into Step 3 of the Reopening Ontario plan.

Visit the City of Windsor Newsroom for the reopening plans for Community Programming, Arenas and Recreational Facilities, and Aquatics.

Transit Windsor will continue to operate on an enhanced Saturday schedule until September, when secondary and post-secondary students are anticipated to return to in-person learning.

A reminder that the Affordable Pass Program (APP), funded by Pathway to Potential, is still available for eligible residents of Windsor-Essex.

For eligibility and application details, please visit Transit Windsor's APP webpage.

Be Back Soon Translated Posters

Connections Early Years Family Centre’s Be Back Soon program is now extending unlicensed short-term child care to qualifying parents with young children while they attend their vaccine appointments.

ELIGIBILITY:

You live in these postal codes and you require unlicensed short-term child care while you attend a vaccine appointment: N8H, N8X, N8Y, N9A, N9B, N9C and N9Y.

Translated copies of the Be Back Soon poster are available for download in:

Please contact Connections Early Years Family Centre for more information or to book an appointment at 519.252.9696.

Play in the Park - Town of Kingsville

Play in the Park is a new, free neighbourhood program offered in July and August by Kingsville Parks and Recreation and funded by Pathway to Potential.

Watch as staff drive into your neighbourhood with toys and games to encourage unstructured free play, and physical literacy skills.

Visit the Kingsville Recreation Department website for upcoming Play in the Park dates, times, locations, and registration information.

Watch a video clip featuring Play in the Park.

Youth Members Needed for the Youth Wellness Hub Advisory Committee

A Youth Wellness Hub (YWH) is being developed for Windsor-Essex.

These Hubs serve as fully integrated “one-stop-shops” for youth aged 12-25, to address their needs related to mental health, substance use, medical care, education, employment, training, housing and other community and social services.

We are looking for a diverse group of youth with lived mental health experiences to be part of the Advisory Committee that will inform important decisions about the YWH. This includes the location, services to be offered at the Hub, décor, programming and more.

Deadline to apply: August 6, 2021

Send your name, age, address and contact information to:

Kim Willis, kwillis@cmha-wecb.on.ca, or call (519) 255-9940 x161

Download a copy of the poster featuring the YWH Advisory Committee.

Community Family Fitness Centre is Now Open in Windsor

The Community Family Fitness Centre is officially open.

The Community Family Fitness Centre is a social enterprise venture by Windsor Family Homes & Community Partnerships. Profits from the facility will help create and sustain health/wellness/support programs for those in need in Windsor/Essex County.

The centre offers supports for the vulnerable population including free access to personal trainers and sport and fitness programming for children and youth who may not otherwise be able to afford it.

Y Works is Currently Recruiting

Y Works is a paid skill building and employment support program for youth and young adults.

Download a flyer for more information on the program.

Camp Yomee Summer 2021

Sending on behalf of the Directors at Camp Yomee

Campers of all backgrounds from ages 6-13 are invited to come for our summer of fun-filled activities, centrally located at Ouellette and Tecumseh at the Windsor Jewish Community Centre.

Summer 2021 camp will run on Tuesdays to Fridays.

Session 1 runs August 3-13 & Session 2 runs August 17-27. Families can choose to register for both sessions (August 3-27).

Registration is open at campyomee.com. For any question or concerns please reach out to the camp directors at campyomee@gmail.com.

WEST Enhanced Language Training Program

The Women's Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor Inc. (WEST) is actively recruiting for the ELT (Enhanced Language Training) Program. This free program is a sector specific training for newcomer women with backgrounds in Finance, Accounting, Bookkeeping, Banking, Administration, or Business.

Following the in-class training is a 4-week work placement (volunteer) to assist participants to gain Canadian/relevant work experience.

Start/End Date: September 7 – November 26, 2021

Schedule: M-F, 9:00am-2:30pm

Eligibility:

Work experience OR education related to Finance, Accounting, Banking, Administration, Bookkeeping, Business
Permanent Resident or Convention Refugee
CLB 5 or Higher
Female Participants only

Note: Hybrid Learning Model

Childcare and transportation support available to eligible to eligible clients at no cost.

To register, please contact Juan Wang at 519-256-6621 or 226-773-4968, or via email at juanw@westofwindsor.com.

Download a flyer featuring the ELT program.

City Council Approves Homelessness and Housing Hub Concept

As reported by CTV News Windsor, the City of Windsor will be creating a new homelessness and housing hub after council unanimously supported the vision.

The city has been operating a hub model at Windsor Water World during the pandemic — As of July 2021, over 1,100 unique individuals have accessed services at this site.

Council has delegated authority for the city to obtain the professional services necessary and begin consultations to inform the planning for the Hub, which may include supports for diversion and mediation, outreach supports, healthcare and mental health practitioners as well as addiction counselling.

Miracle Food Drive Collects over One Million Pounds of Food

More than one million pounds of food was collected during this year’s “June 27th Miracle” food drive in Windsor-Essex.

The food collected this year stands to feed approximately 15,000 households or 34,000 individuals for one year of food bank usage.

From April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021, the Windsor Essex Food Bank Association reportedly served around 166,000 individuals, and the Unemployed Help Centre served about 115,000 of them — an increase of 74 per cent from the same period the year before, or 8,849 more households.

For more information, read the full article in the Windsor Star.

Ontario Helping Workers Start New Careers

The Ontario government is increasing financial supports available and simplifying the application process for individuals applying to the Second Career program.

Laid-off and unemployed workers will no longer need to provide burdensome amounts of documentation to get funding. The program is increasing weekly basic living supports for rent, mortgage and other expenses up to $500 a week. Additionally, transportation and child care supports are being enhanced to better reflect the costs that people currently face.

Read full details in the Ontario Newsroom.

Ontario Helping 100,000 Workers Train for In-Demand Jobs

The Ontario government is investing $5.8 million in free online training to help 100,000 workers gain the skills they need to find good jobs and restart their careers. Courses will focus on building skills most in-demand by employers in fields such as information technology, finance and business administration.

Ontario Investing in New Opportunities for Children and Youth

The Ontario government is investing more than $13 million through the Youth Opportunities Fund to support 36 youth and community-led grassroots projects across the province that help build stronger communities.

Applications for the 2021-22 Youth Opportunities Fund grants will open in Fall 2021.

Read the full announcement in the Ontario Newsroom.

4,500 More Homes for Canadians

On June 30th, 2021 the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced the creation of 4,500 new affordable housing units across the country with an additional investment of $1.5 billion through the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI).

These housing units will support Canadians who are in uncertain housing situations, experiencing or at risk of homelessness, or living in temporary shelters because of the pandemic.

Swiss Study Suggests Low-Income People had Worse COVID-19 Outcomes

As reported by CTV News, a new Swiss study suggests that people in low-income neighbourhoods are less likely to get tested for COVID-19, but more likely to have contracted the virus, become hospitalized and die from complications associated with the disease.

Compared to people in low-income neighbourhoods, people in the wealthiest neighbourhoods were:

18% more likely to have been tested for COVID-19,
25% less likely to test positive,
32% less likely to be hospitalized,
46% less likely to end up in the ICU,
14% less likely to die from the disease.

Local COVID-19 Information & Resources

Ontario is currently in Step Three of the Roadmap to Reopen, as of Friday, July 16, 2021. Step Three focuses on the resumption of additional indoor services with larger numbers of people and restrictions in place.

The three-step plan is based on the provincial vaccination rate and improvements in key public health and healthcare indicators.

Download a Step by Step Guide to Getting Your COVID Vaccine

The guide provides information on scheduling a vaccine appointment, childcare and transportation supports that are available for high priority communities, what happens at the vaccine appointment, and what to do if experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, the City of Windsor and the County of Essex, Windsor Regional Hospital and Erie Shores HealthCare want to ensure that you know where to turn for the latest information as vaccination opportunities become available to different groups in our region.

For the latest information on the COVID vaccines, how to register for your vaccination, mass vaccination clinics, and more, visit WEVax.ca.