It began around a kitchen table over coffee 50 years ago.
The conversation that would eventually become the Lakehead Social Planning Council was remembered by services director Marie Klassen Wednesday as the organization celebrated a half-century in the community.
“(It was) likeminded people who decided we needed a social planning council,” Klassen said at the Victoria Inn. “And it evolved. It was very grassroots. “People decided that it could only benefit Thunder Bay.”
The council staff has grown from 1.5 to 10 along with expanding services and increased demand.
“We’re doing a lot of work that I would suspect the community isn’t even aware of,” Klassen said.
Services like 211, a 24-huor call centre that helps people from the Manitoba border to North Bay. Last year, the service received 36,000 calls. As the cost of living increases, demand continues to grow. From partnering with the city’s poverty reduction strategy to tax clinics, the LSPC is helping those who need it but is seems there are more people in need every day Klassen said.
“We see people who are falling through the cracks we see people who are struggling and the challenges are still there,” she said.
“It’s escalating instead of getting better.”
That’s part of the reason LSPC board president Mary Kozorys said the council is integral to the community.
“Social planning is as important as other types of planning we engage in,” she said.
