CSPC-T Communications Officer Christopher Wulff and Marco Campana of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants explored building conversations online for a crowd of about 110 at the Maytree Foundation’s November Five Good Ideas brown bag lunch back in November. Video of the session is now available and can be viewed below.

The turnout, which was a record for the series, demonstrates how much people in the community-based services sector are struggling with new communications technologies and where they fit in the organization. The Council will continue to look for ways that they can support the sector on this issue with more workshops and resources soon to come.

The Ontario Youth Matter! campaign for better youth policies is a network of community organizations calling on the Ontario government to implement a Provincial Youth Policy Framework.

CASSA set out to identify gaps in health promotion for South Asian communities in Ontario. This summary includes the discussions that took place as well as input from those who couldn't attend the roundtable.

Read more here: http://atwork.settlement.org/sys/atwork_whatshappen_detail.asp?rss=1&anno_id=2008191

Due to inclement weather reports, the Good Jobs for All Coalition has decided to postpone the Rally to Fix EI that had been scheduled for April 21st. More details will be available soon.

The Good Jobs for All Coalition is hosting a rally at 12:00 on April 21st at 4900 Yonge St (just North of Sheppard) calling on the Federal government to make substantial changes to Employment Insurance for all Canadians.

We're All in This Together: Defending the Public Interest During the Recession is being hosted by the Recession Relief Fund Coalition on April 28th. Speakers include Naomi Klein, Uzma Shakir, Gail Nyberg and Peggy Nash.

The April newsletter of the Income Security Advocacy Centre is online! Highlights include information on the special diet litigation, the Ending Poverty project, their revised case criteria and the impending social assistance review.

LetsMakeWaves.ca was set up by some community leaders across the city who are concerned that the Toronto District School Board plans to close 39 of its 79 pools in June of 2009.

Challenges and Opportunities for Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Sector During Tough Economic Times
From the Ontario Trillium Foundation

Download the full report here (PDF format).

Executive Summary

Ontario’s not-for-profit (NFP) sector faces the current recession, and the challenging times ahead, with a mixture of fear and trepidation, tempered with a sense of opportunity.

The Standing Committee on Social Affairs has announced that there will be 2 days of hearings in Toronto on Bill 152, the Poverty Reduction Act 2009 - April 20 and 21.

There will be a conference call on Thursday, April 16 from 10 to 11 am, to help those who are planning to make a submission to the hearings prepare. We will discuss proposed amendments to Bill 152 that have been drawn up by the Legislation Action Table of the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction. And there will be time to share other suggestions about the Bill and the hearings.