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Elevate a charter group of the Canadian Progress Club made up of a dynamic group of Calgary women committed to strong community involvement and dedicated to empowering people. Our members meet on the 2nd Wednesday of each month to plan and execute our fundraising efforts, participate in volunteer activities and share friendship and fellowship.
To help motivated low income families break the cycle of poverty by providing support in their journey to long-term self-sufficiency.
It takes at least three to five years to help one family exit poverty. During that time, the family’s access to education, employment training, housing and support programs are important factors in achieving their goals.
Funds raised will support opportunities that elevate people to an enhanced quality of life.
Programs supported by CPC Elevate include Aspen Foundation, The Canadian Women's Foundation, Calgary's "Feed the Hungry" , The Canadian Progress Fund Charitable Foundation, Calgary's In-definite Arts Society, Willow Park Vintage Fund, Art a La Carte., Big Brothers, Big Sisters & Inn From the Cold.
Funds raised from the CPC Elevate's 2011 Worldwide WOW Photo Exposition support The Canadian Women's Foundation - Women Moving Women Program. You don't need to be told that 1 in 7 women lives in poverty – likely you know that already. You don’t need to be told that women fall into poverty for reasons that could happen to any us; illness, divorce, violence, immigration, or job loss.
But you should know this – just $2500 will set in motion one woman's journey out of poverty and towards financial independence.
Welcome to Women Moving Women, a national movement created by the Canadian Women’s Foundation to change the face of poverty in Canada. The premise is simple: 2500 women (and men!) donating $2500 to move 2500 women out of poverty.
The Canadian Women’s Foundation (CWF) is Canada’s only national public foundation dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls.
CWF raises money to fund, research and share the best approaches to:
- Ending violence against women
- Moving low-income women out of poverty
- And empowering girls with confidence, courage and critical thinking skills
Ranked as one of the ten largest women's foundations in the world, the Canadian Women’s Foundation has supported over 1000 programs across Canada since 1991.
From 2008 to 2010, The Worldwide WOW Photo Contest and Gala were in support of The Empowering Families Program through Aspen Calgary. This program was created to help low-income families break the cycle of poverty. Empowering Families is a collaborative effort that assists local families facing various challenges. Funds raised by Elevate were directed towards education and training opportunities for low income families, to enable them to obtain permanent, sustainable employment. With the help of a family advisor, Empowering Families surrounds the participating families with all the services and support they need to succeed. For more information on the empowering families initiative, visit Aspen's web site at www.aspenfamily.org.
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The members of Elevate were proud to present the "Empowering Families" initiative through Aspen with a cheque for $40,000 at Elevate's sponsor appreciation night November 19th, 2008. The evening at Venturion Gallery included the sponsors and volunteers for the World Wide WOW Photo Exhibition and Gala. Funds raised at the Gala October 23rd, 2008 as well as proceeds from the Photo Contest will contribute to educational opportunities for families that are part of Aspen's Empowering Families program.
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The members of Elevate were proud to present the "Empowering Families" initiative through Aspen with a cheque for $40,000 at Elevate's sponsor appreciation night March, 2010. The evening included the sponsors and volunteers for the 2009 World Wide WOW Photo Exhibition and Gala. Funds raised at the Gala November 12th, 2009 as well as proceeds from the Photo Contest will contribute to Aspen's Empowering Families program.
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2010 saw the members of Elevate presenting "Empowering Families" initiative through Aspen with a cheque for $40,000 at Elevate's 2010 Worldwide WOW sponsor appreciation night January, 2011.
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In addition, Elevate donated an additiona $5000 to Willow Park's Vintage Foundation. The evening hosted Elevate members and guests as well as the sponsors and volunteers for the 2010 World Wide WOW Photo Exhibition and Gala.
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The Empowering Families Project works to empower low income families to become economically self sufficient with the necessary skills and assets to remain in that position. This is accomplished by utilizing a family support worker approach combined with investment in the family beyond crisis intervention that is so often a focus of programs that support homeless or near homeless families. The project works to establish social and financial capital within the families that will provide them with the ability to maintain self-sufficiency.
A thorough assessment is completed with each family to determine their financial status, strengths, assets and goals. Assets are identified through an asset mapping process that considers five key areas that include financial, human, physical, personal and social.
Based on the family assessment and goals, specific poverty reduction strategies are identified and investments made accordingly. The facilitator provides regular and frequent one on one contact with each family providing assessment, joint planning/goal setting, emotional support, financial investments and progress reviews.
Typical program interventions include: budgeting, nutrition counseling, emotional support to help build self esteem and confidence, investment in children’s social/recreational needs, financial literacy programs, increase in skills and employability, tuition costs, resume building, healthy lifestyle skills, affordable transportation, regular contribution of gas and grocery vouchers to offset family expenses, encouragement to increase savings, support for entrepreneurial ventures (in some cases).
Most of the participants in the empowering families program are single parent families and most of the parents are single females. The primary focus of the program is on the “working poor”; single parents are at a clear disadvantage in relation to household income since income is limited to one wage earner. Of the families involved in the program, a good percentatge are new immigrants. These families face challenges such as lack of familiarity with opportunities and services, getting a driver’s license, paying for citizenship applications and finding employment to match their level of education.
For more information on the empowering families initiative, visit Aspen's web site at www.aspenfamily.org.
On May 12th 2011, CPC Elevate and AdDrinx IV-The Art of Photography raised over $3500 towards Art a La Carte. Funds raised allowed CPC Elevate to print on canvas and frame 22 photographs from the Worldwide WOW Photo Contest Winners (2008 to 2010) for the Art A La Carte program in Calgary. This volunteer society provides acute care cancer patients with a choice of art for their hospital rooms. Our sincere thanks to the WOW Photo Contest winners who chose to donate their image to this great program. CPC Elevate had a great time working with the AdDrinx crew on this event at Belgo in Calgary and the finished framed canvas prints (Completed by ProGraphics in Calgary) look amazing and will brings colour, connection and comfort to hundreds of people in hospital settings for years to come. Some of the photos printed by this event are proudly hanging in the Santuari Hospice 3500 – 26 Ave. NE (Peter Lougheed Centre‐Unit 42).
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