Delta Community Voices Table
Delta Community Voices Table was formed in 2023, as a part of a UBCM-funded project to reduce poverty in Delta. Comprised of residents with lived and living experiences of poverty, eight members have diverse experiences navigating life in Delta on limited incomes. As change makers, the group aims to make a positive impact in the community by developing a collaborative initiative that will aim to improve quality of life for their vulnerable neighbours. To ensure equity in decision making, members bring the voices of those impacted by poverty to the Delta Poverty Reduction Table and its decision making table processes. Stay tuned for updates on the group's progress and their efforts to create meaningful change in the City of Delta. Contact the Poverty Reduction Coordinator if you have questions at AAtkinson@delta.ca.
Delta is growing in size and becoming more diverse as it is a an attractive place for young families, new immigrants, seniors, and working professionals who enjoy the city’s amenities, natural surroundings, and small community feel. Delta boasts a well-educated and high-earning (above the provincial average) population, and is seen as a caring community with a variety of supportive services tailored to the needs of residents.
Despite this, many Delta residents are living in poverty. Almost 10% of Delta residents are considered to live in low-income households. Poverty affects people’s ability to access health care, housing, food and safe water, education, employment, and their right to vote. This leads to social inequities and a cycle of poverty that is difficult to break unless the root causes of poverty are considered.
In 2022, the City of Delta developed a Delta Poverty Reduction Strategy with concrete actions to address poverty in Delta. The Strategy was presented to Council on May 16, 2022. Read the Council Report.
What else is the City of Delta doing?
- Providing $1 million in annual funding to community organizations to support vulnerable children, youth, families and seniors.
- Operating a free Seniors Bus program; over 2,200 seniors used it in 2019 (pre-pandemic).
- Offering a Leisure Access Assistance Program to families on limited income; close to 800 LAAP subsidies were issued in 2019.
- Providing free recreation facility admission for youth between the ages of 10 and 18 (Youth Admission Pass).
- Updating a Social Action Plan for Delta with an equity lens to ensure that the needs of the most vulnerable residents are prioritized.
- Developing Delta's first Housing Plan that includes strategies and priorities for actions to increase access to rental and affordable housing in Delta. Developed Delta Housing Action Plan.
- In 2021-2023, securing close to $400,000 funding from the Province of BC to develop support systems to assist unhoused community members and residents who are at risk of being evicted.
- In 2022, securing $50,000 from the Province of BC to advance the Delta Poverty Reduction Strategy.