Saturday, Nov. 28
7pm
Steelworkers' Hall - 25 Cecil (South of College, East of Spadina)
Pay what you can
Wheelchair accessible
Free Snacks
On November 28,the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty will mark 25 years of challenging those who impose poverty on our communities. Twenty five years is a long time but we're not putting on a party to mark the end of OCAP. Just the opposite, the need for community based resistance in the face of mounting austerity is greater than ever. We'll be having a major celebration to look back on the actions we've taken, the victories we've won, the lives we've impacted and the enemies we've made.

OCAP members and supporters,

Over the years there have been times when OCAP has faced serious financial shortages, and we've squeaked through with the help of our supporters. At present we are faced with another such crisis. The situation is such that we have not been able to pay our organizers as of yet this month and on top of this, the rent is coming due soon.

This ongoing problem is the result of not having a regular monthly revenue coming in. What we really, really need is to have our monthly sustainer base increased. We would urge you, if you are able, to become a monthly sustainer of any denomination, $5, $ 10, $25, $50, anything you can afford- and please ask others as well! To do this, we just need a void cheque indicating the amount you would like deducted each month. In this way, we hope to avoid this kind of emergency situation in the future. Far better that we should be able to focus on fighting (along with all of you) the brutal austerity measures that we're all facing from every level of government, as we hope you'll agree.

In the meantime - our needs are extremely urgent. If you are able, please send us a donation now, and if you have any contacts that might be able to help out please ask them to do so also! Thank you in advance for your support!

1) There’s a Grinch in Town, and His Name is Rob Ford

Rob Ford doesn’t have a red nose like Rudolph. He has the long nose of a liar! During his campaign, he promised Torontonians that there would be no service cuts during his reign as mayor, but that soon proved to be a bold faced lie. On the chopping block already are libraries, childcare, unionized jobs for city workers, parks, community start-up grants and museums.

In October, Toronto Community Housing Board approved the selling off of over 700 homes. In a city where the wait time to get into affordable housing is nearly a decade long, this is just not acceptable.

If his political allegiance was not clear enough, his city council has even cut the Christmas Fund, a program that brought holiday gifts to needy children (we couldn’t make this stuff up!).

Our plan is not to wait for his heart to grow three sizes bigger. It is to ramp up the fight back now and kick those greedy grinches out of office.

As little as $10 a month can help us maintain our work across this city and it just got easier to give.

For close to 20 years the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty has been at the forefront of community based resistance to regressive social policy from all levels of government. We have helped inspire numerous groups across this country and continent, been studied in universities and college programs and most importantly we have time after time organized poor communities to stand up and take what’s theirs. To fight for their dignity and for justice.

Today we are engaged day to day in the fight against City Hall, Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill. Making sure that repairs are done in community housing, fighting for each and every entitlement on welfare and disability and working to win fundamental changes that will mean better housing, more to eat and better social programs.

All of this continues to be carried out on a shoestring budget. Year after year we scrape by on the generosity of our members and supporters, primarily by those who answer our emergency appeals for cash when we are on the brink of laying off staff or closing our office. Our monthly expenses are by no means outrageous. We pay our staff what we can, cover basic bills and operate a small office. Every month we are thousands of dollars short of covering our expenses.

Our goal is to change all of that by the end of this year. We are looking for all supporters of our work to pitch in and help support the struggle by becoming a part of our monthly sustainers program. Please only donate what you can. Five dollars helps. Ten dollars helps. And if you can afford to give more please do.

To become a monthly sustainer, send a void cheque with amount and which date of the month you'd prefer it to be processed to:

Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
157 Carlton, # 206,
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 2K3

For more information call us at 416-925-6939 or email ocap@tao.ca.