Overcoming Poverty

We fund programs through numerous agencies which help tackle poverty across Vancouver Island. See our full list of Community Partners.

As advocates for real change, we bring together experts to address critical social issues, such as health and poverty. Currently, we lead homeless coalitions in Nanaimo, Cowichan, Comox Valley and Campbell River to drive local solutions.

We manage more than $900,000 in federal funds through Employment and Social Development Canada's Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy. This funding is invested into several initiatives to tackle the systemic issues underlying poverty in our communities.

By better understanding the needs of our community through research, analysis and data, we can work with partners to put that knowledge into action. The information we gather through activities like the 2018 Point-in-Time homeless count has gone forward to create the Nanaimo Homelessness Coalition's Five-Year Action Plan; that plan then helped inform and improve Nanaimo’s Affordable Housing Strategy.

We’ve partnered with the Cowichan Valley Regional District to provide free bus tickets to vulnerable people who don’t have regular access to transportation. Because of your donations, in 2018 we were able to distribute 6,264 tickets via 11 community agencies. That is a total value of $14,094 in bus tickets!

United Way has brought bc211 to central and northern Vancouver Island. bc211 is a confidential telephone, texting, and online bc211.ca referral service providing free information for people in need . Highly-trained specialists link callers to services such as mental health supports, shelter and housing, legal aid, addictions treatment, newcomer services, food banks and more. The program operates in over 160 languages! You can call or text 2-1-1, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.