BCAPI NEWS
Jana Comeau welcomed as BCAPI’s new Executive Director
After an exhaustive search, the Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative (BCAPI) is pleased to welcome Jana Comeau as its new Executive Director.
The Saint John Learning Exchange: Connecting Education to Employment in Saint John
For the past four decades, the Saint John Learning Exchange (SJLE) has been a driving force in transforming lives in Saint John. More than 500 learners per year now benefit from their programs and services.
BCAPI’s response to GNB’s Anglophone Sector Education Plan
On May 25, the Anglophone Sector Education plan was released, and we were pleased to note substantial alignment with our recommendations.
Saint John's Early Childhood Hubs: A Foundation for Success
Some of the most important learning takes place long before a child ever walks into a classroom on the first day of school.
A New Vision for New Brunswick’s Youngest Learners
New Brunswick has just completed one of the most extensive public consultations on education in recent memory. Parents, students, teachers, and community members shared their experiences in the “What We Heard” report.
Urgent Priorities for Saint John’s Next Council
A collaborative of Early Childhood organizations in Saint John has called upon all candidates running for election in Saint John to act on the following recommendations – should they win their seats on council.
Partner profile: Teen Resource Centre
At any given time, Saint John’s Teen Resource Centre (TRC) is serving approximately 240 young people between the ages of 13 and 24. The centre has become the go-to organization for youth services in Saint John, specializing in educational attainment and NEET youth prevention.
Community hubs are not just a benefit—they’re a lifeline.
Saint John the Baptist-King Edward (SJBKE) school, one of two south-end Saint John schools that will be decommissioned and replaced by a new-build school at Rainbow Park is more than a K-8 school.
When Children Succeed Project
The first update for the When Children Succeed, We Break the Cycle of Poverty project is complete and available here for review.
How Saint John is Closing the Education and Poverty Gaps
There is a powerful change in direction that is taking place in Greater Saint John. A determined effort to address generational poverty is seeing success. This city no longer has the highest rate of child poverty in Canada and actually is leading the way in reducing poverty.
When business is engaged
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative (BCAPI), a progressive movement of the Saint John business community to help the city end generational poverty.
Working together for everyone at their best
The Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative (BCAPI) was pleased to see New Brunswick’s 10-year education plan send a strong message about education in the province – if we want our province to thrive, our children must come first, education outcomes must improve, and it’s up to all of us to make it happen.
Living SJ strategy seeks to end child poverty
Saint John has learned a lot about how to reduce poverty. Our high child poverty rate, when compared to other cities in New Brunswick, is caused by generational poverty. The road to breaking the cycle is complex but simply put, our success lies in each child and family knowing they are important to our city’s future, that their talents are needed and that our community cares and is fully equipped to help them achieve their education and economic self-sufficiency. Our end goal: no child ever again will suffer a lifetime of poverty.
Doubting education orthodoxy
While it was first delivered more than seven decades ago, the second inaugural address of Franklin Delano Roosevelt remains one of the most important political documents of the past 100 years. It was given in January of 1937, as North America remained mired in a prolonged recession, not unlike the one New Brunswick is currently experiencing. Yet instead of the standard political trope about the need for job creation, FDR issued a call to action to those citizens who collectively wanted a better future.
It's about the future New Brunswick
Without substantial changes to our approach to education we will not solve our economic problems in New Brunswick.
Poverty is not an inevitability that we are powerless to change
Poverty ends when a child succeeds.
Closing the gap through education
The Province traditionally funds education equally from one region to the next, no matter if one area has different needs from another. Ironically, this approach creates severe inequality with educational outcomes.
We cannot afford the cost of poverty
Saint John has a serious and deeply-rooted problem with multi-generational poverty. The very future of this city could be at stake if significant progress is not made to end this social inequality.
Early literacy needs to be championed
The most basic and well-known rule of investing smart is to “start early,” as it generally applies to the stock market or retirement planning. Achieve Literacy Greater Saint John has found that it also applies to solving our literacy problem.