The Downtown Mission in Windsor is getting involved in the federal election campaign with a nationwide effort called "Vote To End Poverty".
Executive director Ron Dunn says it's not backing any candidates, but it has third-party advertiser status so it can post signs calling on federal parties to come up with a national strategy to end poverty.
The mission is one of ten partners across the country, including the Prosperity Roundtable in Chatham-Kent, that have launched a website to supply the public with signs, buttons and postcards. Dunn also hopes residents will raise the issue with candidates at the front door and use the hashtag #votetoendpoverty on social media.
Dunn is surprised poverty isn't already a major issue on the campaign trail, since "it affects everything we do as a nation." He says the lack of education can contribute to poverty, which in turn is linked to high health care costs.
"It's all linked but somehow in this country we don't see the link and we don't talk about the link. We talk about them as individual problems and concerns."
A release from the mission says 39.1% of Canadians live in poverty, including one in five children.