LEWG Members Embarking on New Projects

Feb 9 2023

Lived Expertise Working GroupThe Group has completed a string of interviews to unpack current barriers and solutions to lived expertise work, such as trauma and diversity, accountability to the process by both municipal partners and lived experts, and the persisting tokenism. The Working Group members are proud and enthusiastic about co-creating the approach being used and have identified even more opportunities to keep improving the process and the collaboration with municipal staff and councils.

Homeless Creating Solutions for the Homeless

Feb 3 2023

YouTube Beyond the BulletinWe may not need another research on homelessness and supports to homeless in Waterloo Region for a long time. A lot has been said and remains ignored to the large extent today. The project we are starting in collaboration with the Region of Waterloo with Prof. Brian Doucet at University of Waterloo and Prof. Laura Pin from Wilfrid Laurier University is rooted in participatory action research approach. Contradiction? The reason we are grounding it in self-reflective approaches, participatory methods and prototyping is to allow for the lived experience voices to be heard, responded to and their wisdom actioned upon by the regional and city governments. After the January court ruling on the 100 Victoria encampment, there is a greater recognition of the violations of the human rights to shelter, safety and life, we wish to contribute to a greater awareness of the urgency to act in collaboration with lived experts on initiatives similar to the hybrid shelter in Waterloo or access to warming centres during weekends and holidays. Together with the partners on this project we hope to do this work with, not for, the people who gained invaluable insight and resilience through struggle, hardship and ongoing criminalization. As the project evolves through the regional planning to end chronic homelessness, take a listen of the podcast Prof. Brian Doucet recorded with Beyond the Bulletin. 

Grassroots Organizing Boost 2023

Jan 2 2023

“The Upstream Fund has the potential to shift the balance of power in our Region, and begin to prevent harm before it happens” said Community Change Committee Member Pamela Fehr.

Social Development Centre's Civic Hub program is among 41 groups and organizations who received funding through the Upstream Fund in 2023. Revival of Civic Hub partner groups self-governance, financial capacity and anti-oppression, anti-racism practices will be the focus of our team's work to incubate and nurture community-based grassroots initiatives. Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan

Office Closed December 23 to January 2

Dec 13 2022

When it comes to work, face to face or virtually, our associates and staff deserve to feel valued, supported and inspired. The slowdown time is offered regularly throughout the year, and we are offering a week before Christmas as a slowdown week for planning and reflection, and the week after Christmas, as a paid holiday at the Social Development Centre. Staff self-care and time to disconnect contribute to a nurturing environment. We wish you all equally supportive and energizing holiday time before we meet afresh in 2023! 

I Am Not Invisible - December 3rd 2022

Nov 10 2022

December 3rd Event "I Am Not Invisible", an open event at the Kitchener Public Library, organized by Disabilities and Human Rights Group, complements a range of activities in the three cities on December 3rd, the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities. This panel discussion will shine a light on the living experience of young people with invisible disabilities, their challenges, successes, and accomplishments. KPL Central Branch, at the auditorium, 1pm-2:30pm, Join this important conversation! 

Restitution and Reconciliation Statement Nov 8 2022

Nov 8 2022

Through our work we are in frequent tension with oppressive systems that are our collective legacy of the colonialization. We exist within these oppressive systems, we are sometimes oppressed by them, we are sometimes made complicit by them.  Read the full statement made on November 8th 2022, at the opening night "In The Penal Colony" with MJ Drama and the local actor Kevin White at the Registry Theater.

Bill 23 - Impact on Municipal and Regional Affordable Housing Plans

Nov 3 2022

The concerns about Bill 23, the "More Homes Built Faster Act” continue to grow. Municipalities across Ontario have expressed deep reservations about its impact, especially right after the elections. Social Development Centre and other organizations in the province identified a range of concerns regarding measures that will actually prevent creation of the affordable hosuing we need. The Bill will: cut funding to municipal affordable housing programs (read more), reduce the amount of affordable housing new developments have to provide through inclusionary zoning, undermine programs that protect existing affordable housing and tenants rights, shift taxes from developers to ordinary households and municipal revenues. Read the letter to the Ontario Government that many organizations in Ontario are signing to ask the province to address these concerns. Please take a moment to sign the letter on behalf of your organization, and pass this along to your networks. Affordable housing is too important and we can't afford to get it wrong.

In The Penal Colony Recitation

Oct 26 2022
in the penal colony
IN THE PENAL COLONY recitation by Kevin White on November 8-10 at the Registry Theater. "The apparatus of the colony is not merely the execution device, but the presence of the system of colonialism that exists in speech, in thought, and in the physical reality the characters experience." If you are intrigued come to this recitation and also help raise money for the Social Development Centre Waterloo Region.


29th Year of Festival of Neighbourhoods!

Oct 20 2022

FON Annual Celebration 2022Can you marvel the perseverance of the initiative that started in 1994 and still finds ways to reinvent itself? One of its founders, John MacDonald says: “It’s about creating opportunities for each of us, by growing relations and understanding with everyone around us. When we reach out and meet others we create better conditions for each and all of us, and it has a multiplier effect. Propinquity may seem a silly word, but it’s a basic measure of quality in our neighbourhoods and in our daily lives. Simple actions and simple gatherings of strangers have proven and positive results.” Join the 29th Annual Celebration on November 20th at 1pm at the Kitchener City Hall with over 40 neighbourhoods coming together as Pros in Propinquity. We will unveil the Inclusion Award 2022 and have a number of $500 Welcome Back prizes to draw. You can register on www.festivalofneighbourhoods.ca.

SDC Ride for Refuge October 1st

Ride for Refuge 2022On October 1st, we are hosting our first Ride for Refuge fundraising event. We would love for you to join - ride or walk with us and then share a light meal. 

Ride for Refuge is a family-friendly, in-person fundraising ride/walk in support of charities that help people needing refuge from danger, hardship, and abuse. Across Canada on RIDE Day, people gather in solidarity with all who are affected by a callous world that ignores their pain, their needs, and their great potential. The World Needs Refuge, and we need your help as we bring refuge to our region.