Welfare Rights
Tell me and I will forget; show me and I will remember;
involve me and I will understand. (Chinese proverb)
Through its Welfare Rights program, Saint Columba House works for personal and collective empowerment through education, active involvement, mobilisation and organizing. Following a model that promotes people taking charge of their own representation and finding their own voice, Saint Columba House works in close association with the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) and the Comité des sans emploi (CSE), two citizen membership based organizations it has helped form and maintain.
Saint Columba House works with WRC and CSE to help them provide a series of services and activities that include:
- an individual information and advocacy service for people on welfare or in related situations
- monthly community suppers followed by public meetings where participants can learn about new developments and share their views and ideas about common issues
- bi-weekly workshops where information about social programs and/or discussions about directions for collective action can be discussed in more detail
- monthly music nights to help bring together people of different generations, ethnic origins, etc.
- campaigns, actions and participation in broader networks with other organizations to promote social and legislative change to the benefit of people currently living in poverty and exclusion.
