2019 was a year of adaptation and moving forward. In July, the Civic Hub was launched, we started the Oral History project on gentrification and displacement, supported Waterloo Region Multicultural Connection & sense-making process with the Wellbeing WR survey, and started inviting lived experience groups to collaborate and work together.
2019 Activity Report - 2019 Financial Report - 2020 Activity Update
Join the Virtual AGM with Big Blue Button platform (orientation at a glance) or let Lesley@waterlooregion.org know if you would be coming in person to the Civic Hub WR, proper distancing and precautions taken.
2020 came with unexpected and unprecedented challenges for our teams demanding greater adaptation and innovation during the pandemic: How do we continue to shift and adapt to the current needs of Waterloo Region? What are issues that are not yet being addressed? What new opportunities can we leverage? Technology has a role to play, and we want to seize future opportunities to build connections and resources to do better face to face.
Technology has the potential to change the nature of the workforce, to improve equity, to promote accessibility, to preserve the environment, and more. But are we taking appropriate advantage of this potential in Waterloo Region? How do we ensure that this influx of firms does not detriment the social and physical landscapes of the Region? There are a few local civil society organizations exploring the intersection of tech and social justice, but the issue remains largely unexplored.
Connection to grassroots is ever more important now due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please join us at our online Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, October 14th to learn more about the SDC’s work in 2019-2020 and to be a part of a discussion around how technology can connect closer to the grassroots.
ONLINE Annual General Meeting
OCTOBER 14, 2020, 6 pm to 7:30 pm
Business Meeting: 6:00-6:30
Tenants Support Navigation App & Map of Displacement Showcase: 6:30-7:00
Tech & Social Justice Discussion: 7:00-7:30
Please RSVP to receive the link to the online AGM.
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Donate to support Social Development
The COVID-19 pandemic has forever shifted the social landscape in Waterloo Region, and continues to disproportionately impact marginalized populations. The Social Development Centre continues to adapt to the community’s greatest needs and to find innovative solutions to issues of social exclusion and economic marginalization. In the last several months, we have:
1. Became the philanthropic partner for A Better Tent City, and the O:se Kenhionhata:tie Land Back Camp. As the philanthropic partner of A Better Tent City, SDC issued tax receipts for over $60,000 in donations during the pandemic and has secured a $75,000 grant from the Emergency Community Support Fund through KW Community Foundation..
2. Supported the Unsheltered Campaign, a collective of Civic Hub Waterloo Region partners who advocated to all the regional municipalities during COVID to provide 24/7 alternatives to shelter for all unsheltered people in Waterloo Region.
4. Organized volunteer tax clinics and income security supports to low- and moderate-income residents in the region all through the pandemic and served 400 residents.
5. Continued collecting testimonies for the Oral History Project Mapping of Displacement in Kitchener-Waterloo and amplifying the voices not heard often enough in the development of the city cores in the region. A podcast series Life Stories of Displacement is growing and an interactive map is coming live soon.
6. Civic Hub initiated a radio show series Welcome to the Civic Hub and offered a virtual space for the partner groups to meet and plan. It will also be a home to educational programs of the East African Coalition groups as of September 2020.
These efforts by the SDC are crucial to the community, particularly while the pandemic places stress on the traditionally marginalized communities. In the last 5 months alone, we have processed $100,000 to support grassroots-led movement and build resilience in the face of uncertainty.
We ask for your support so that we may remain responsive, adapt with stability and increase our collective impact. Please consider donating to support the lives in this community who need it the most.
These successes are testimonies of our capacity to adapt, as we continue to ramp up our efforts to serve the community’s needs. Now is the time to be a part of the movement for an inclusive, equitable, and just recovery from COVID-19 in Waterloo Region where all voices are heard.
As a member of the Social Development Centre, you will be showing your support for equity and inclusion, and your success will be SDC’s success. Please consider joining the SDC’s many initiatives as an individual or organizational member, and become a part of our network of people who believe in connecting deeper to the grassroots and making every voice count.
