Lambton Circles

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 lead themselves out of poverty with the support of middle-class mentors and...

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 Wellness Retreat for Worthy Women" was born from conversation between elementary teacher Sheila Ward...

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 for Worthy Women.

This two-day retreat was born from conversation between elementary teacher Sheila Ward and a handful of local wellness practitioners. They observed that many women who...

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 goals, participating in training, education and accessing a wider circle of resources and supports.

The One Tomato Project is also an example of the solutions economy -...

Circles has been a game changer on the ground

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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 to deal with inequality - such as a basic income guarantee policy - "because others don't."

All three main political parties are constantly...