LADYSMITH – New Democrat MLA Doug Routley says that a $25,000 grant in provincial funding to help local government boost supports for vulnerable and low-income people in Ladysmith.

“This funding will give us more resources to tackle poverty right here at home,” said Routley, MLA for Nanaimo-North Cowichan. “The mayor and council and the whole community continue to strive to help vulnerable people and I am proud we can support those efforts.”

MLA Routley says the grant funding will help develop a poverty reduction plan based on community engagement, drawing on focus groups and individual’s participation in poverty challenges.

The local investment is part of the Poverty Reduction Planning and Action Program which will empower 54 local governments across the province, through 29 projects, to develop poverty reduction plans that directly support people in their communities.

The 29 projects are receiving a total of $1.4 million, from a $5 million provincial grant to the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM), with individual project funding ranging from $16,000 to $150,000. The grant is part of the New Democrat government’s commitment to partner with local governments and communities in poverty reduction initiatives, as part of TogetherBC, B.C.’s first poverty reduction strategy.

Learn More: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020SDPR0032-000990