Poverty Roundtable to discuss poverty reduction in Hastings and Prince Edward

By Syerra Turry

BELLEVILLE – Poverty Roundtable Hastings Prince Edward will be hosting a news conference Tuesday at the Community Development Centre at 10 a.m. to discuss a community plan for poverty reduction.

This event follows the release of a report released by the roundtable in March, which discusses the experience of poverty as trauma, how people survive without adequate housing and the challenges that come with moving out of poverty.

The news conference will discuss the need for a plan for addressing poverty, outline areas of action and explain why it matters to the community.

Participants will include staff from Poverty Roundtable and members of their steering committee.

Statistics indicate that Belleville has the sixth highest urban concentration of child poverty in Canada. The city also had the highest percentage rent increase in Ontario in 2017 at 5.9 per cent.