Original article by Paul Morden at theobserver.ca Publishing date: Apr 18, 2021 A program helping Sarnia-area families make their way out of poverty has kept going through the pandemic. Circles, an approach Lambton County began using in 2009, has temporarily replaced its weekly dinners in church halls and community centres with phone calls, drop-offs of […]
Canadian Museum of Nature honours Sarnia’s ‘bug girl’
Original article by Paul Morden at theobserver.ca Publishing date: Nov 26, 2020 An 11-year-old Sarnia author and insect enthusiast is the winner of the Canadian Museum of Nature 2020 Youth Nature Inspiration Award. Sophia Spencer, who co-authored The Bug Girl (A true story) with Margaret McNamara, was named the winner Wednesday during an online ceremony. “I was, […]
Sarnia celebrates with The Bug Girl
Sophia Spencer’s book-signing on Saturday packed The Book Keeper. The Sarnia book store was full of fans of the 11-year-old P. E. McGibbon public school pupil and co-author of The Bug Girl (A true story), written with New York writer Margaret McNamara and published by an imprint of Penguin Random House. “I think it might […]
Local interest in bringing poverty assistance program to Corwall
Organizers of the Bridges out of Poverty workshop were hoping to attract about 50 to 60 participants to their workshop on Wednesday. Instead, 140 residents of the area showed up, smashing their expectations. “This has happened in Cornwall in the past,” said Carilyne Hébert, executive director of the Social Development Council of Cornwall and Area […]
How micro-loans are putting Ontario Works recipients in the driver’s seat
By David Rockne Corrigan – Originally published on Nov 08, 2019 on tvo.org Since 2016, Leeds Grenville has offered support for those who need a vehicle to get to work — and data shows that household earnings are rising. In rural Ontario, access to a personal vehicle can dramatically affect quality of life. Alison Tutak, director […]
Woman behind Circles Canada retiring
Originally published at https://www.theobserver.ca/news/local-news/woman-behind-circles-canada-retiring The woman responsible for bringing the poverty alleviation program Circles to Canada says it’s grown beyond her expectations over the past decade. Now in 10 Canadian communities, including Sarnia-Lambton – where Gayle Montgomery first brought Circles to Canada from the United States in 2009 – the program that helps people […]
Sarnia Journal Guest Column: Thea’s weekend of tending and befriending
The ‘Women’s Worth Wellness Retreat for Worthy Women’ was held in honour of Thea DeGroot, an educator and community advocate who passed away in May 2018 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. By Lauren Bus (Original Article: http://thesarniajournal.ca/theas-weekend-of-tending-and-befriending/) Earlier this summer, a women’s wellness retreat was held at a beach house in Camlachie. The ‘Women’s Worth […]
Thea’s Weekend of Tending and Befriending
By Lauren Bus * Names have been omitted to respect the privacy of participants * On July 22, in the sleepy beach village of Camlachie, Ont., nearly 20 women gathered for a weekend of sisterhood with women they had never met before. They were the participants and contributors of A Woman’s Worth: A Wellness Retreat […]
Circles program a great example of people finding solutions
Each of us has likely heard of the capitalist economy, the sharing economy and the information economy, but usually not of the solutions economy of which we have several examples right here in Sarnia-Lambton. Circles Canada is one such example – providing a program to enable individuals to lift themselves out of poverty by setting […]
Circles has been a game changer on the ground
Source Sarnia mayor frustrated with federal leaders for ignoring poverty, inequality By Roderick Benns One of Canada’s longest serving mayors is getting frustrated with the three main federal party leaders who are persistently ignoring the issues of poverty and inequality. Mayor Mike Bradley, of Sarnia, Ontario, says he is speaking out more lately for measures […]
