Our society is evolving rapidly, and needs are changing accordingly.

The community-based agencies find themselves called upon to help more and more people who are experiencing increasingly complex problems. At the same time, they have to raise the necessary funding from government and organizations such as Centraide.

Donors find themselves with more causes to support, so they want to make sure their donation will have the greatest possible impact. All donors, whether individuals or corporations, want to ensure their money is being used effectively.

The many volunteers who are willing to contribute their time and abilities to community-based agencies find themselves in greater demand. The fact that they have highly varied personal and economic characteristics has implications for agencies that depend on volunteer help. For example, parents with young children, job-seeking students, and young retirees all have very different abilities and amounts of available time, to contribute.

In order to remain relevant and effective, Centraide continually adjusts its social action in light of changing social needs. In 2000, we brought together about 100 people from the community-based and other sectors to help identify :

1. the major social challenges of the day;

2. the best strategies for meeting those challenges;

3.how Centraide can make a difference.

The result of this vast consultation, a report entitled "Building Caring Communities and Supporting their Ability to Act," will guide Centraide’s action for many years to come.

All around us…

• We see more and more children whose development is being hindered by the negative effects of poverty.
  
  
• More and more youth are living on the street.
  
  
• The culture of poverty, which is passed on from one generation to the next, has become endemic in several neighbourhoods.
  
  
• The pressures on families are becoming greater and greater.

For everyone, the burden has become heavier, the choices more difficult.

• Civil society, and the community agencies in particular, are being called upon to build social cohesion and find lasting solutions to social problems.
  
  
• Over the past 30 years, the number of community agencies and initiatives that use volunteers has grown considerably.
  
  
• Organizations like Centraide are receiving more requests for financial support than ever.
  
  
• Corporations are doing more and more to encourage their employees to get involved in the local community, while tending to choose their social causes and target their donations.
  
  
• Donors want to know how their contribution is making a difference.
  

Centraide’s response

Work with the donors, agencies and projects in our network.
Work with the whole community in those areas where we can be most effective.

The issues The solutions Our strategies

"Building Caring Communities and Supporting their Ability to Act" is the report of the Advisory Committee on Social Issues. It describes Centraide's social context and identifies the major social issues of the day, Centraide's challenges, and our strategies for meeting those challenges.

© 2001, Centraide of Greater Montreal
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