Local non-profit Poverty Advocacy Nanaimo wants to help connect low-income individuals to the resources they need, which aren't always easy to find. (Dreamstime)

By Jordan Davidson

finding resources

Nanaimo poverty advocates connect low-income residents with valuable, but not always visible, resources

Oct 24, 2024 | 5:37 PM

NANAIMO — A local non-profit wants to help connect low-income people with support programs by showing them all the valuable resources available in the Harbour City.

Poverty Advocacy Nanaimo (PAN) was founded just over a year ago and helps overcome barriers faced by people in poverty by sharing with them available resources from all levels of government and the non-profit sector.

Executive director and founder of PAN Sarah Pump said her own experience becoming disabled and slipping below the poverty line made her realize a lot of resources to help low-income people aren’t always easy to find.

“Everything is hard to find. When I became too sick to work and became disabled and ended up in poverty with my son as a single mother, I fortunately, had the skills, because I’m a former librarian, to do all of that leg work and do all the research and figure out how to survive. Most people in crisis don’t have that capacity.”

She started PAN on her own to ensure anybody in a similar situation would know where to turn.

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The PAN website includes lists of topics with links to local resources for low-income residents, including access to food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, and even for your pets.

What began as a simple website maintained by Pump quickly transformed into three specific program areas with a staff of 10 volunteers.

Now they’re able to keep their online resource list current, while also starting a Snacks 4 Kids program and providing community presentations.

Pump said one of the biggest resources for low-income people often gets overlooked when people ask for help.

“Usually the first thing I say is the food bank. The second thing I’ll say is rental supplements, and the third thing I’ll say is the library because the library is…not just free books anymore, right? With your library card, you have access to free information databases, free Ebooks…(no need to download Ebooks from Amazon) and you can also get free streaming.”

Pump’s next community presentation will be on Friday, Nov. 15 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. at the Vancouver Island Regional Library-Nanaimo Harbourfront (90 Commercial St.)

She’ll go through her “greatest hits” of local resources, including Loaves and Fishes Community Food Bank and the Good Food Box program through Nanaimo Foodshares, and provincial resources to help cover rent and utility bills, and of course, local libraries.

“I go all the way down to resources available for women who are at risk of abuse because there’s a direct connection between poverty and women who are struggling in an abusive relationship. Programs for children, all sorts of stuff. It’ll be a fairly wide-ranging presentation…then I’ll be answering questions about the resources.”

More information on PAN can be found here on their website.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow