Social planning council marks milestone
Clara Ho, City Hall Bureau, Edmonton SUN
January 20, 2010
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A local not-for-profit social research organization is celebrating 70 years of advocating for the city’s most vulnerable.
The Edmonton Social Planning Council is looking back on seven decades of community partnerships and projects helping seniors, the sick and those living in poverty.
“The council has always had the needs and interests of the vulnerable in the forefront of the work that they have done,” said council executive director Susan Morrissey at City Hall Wednesday.
“Our goal is to continue to advocate for those in need and use evidence-based information to be able to advocate.”
Since its inception in 1940, the council has “incubated and hatched” many other organizations such as the Christmas Bureau, the Edmonton Food Bank and the John Howard Society, said council president Doug Meggison.
Coun. Karen Leibovici said the Edmonton Social Planning Council’s publications and research have helped her make decisions both as an MLA and a city councillor. She praised the organization for their innovative ways to meet citizens’ needs.
The council is now working with a network of about 50 to 60 community organizations and is engaged in dozens of partnerships.
Morrissey said they are in the process of encouraging the Alberta government to adopt a poverty reduction strategy for the province.
The council is also organizing a “lunch and learn” series where members of the public are invited to engage in lunchtime chats with guest speakers on social issues.
The next one is on Feb. 10 at noon at the Stanley Milner Library and focuses on immigration experiences in Edmonton with guest speakers John Bol, a Sudanese refugee, and Jim Gurnett, formerly with the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers.
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