Local poverty advocates in Windsor are providing input for the creation of a national poverty reduction strategy.
The federal government is asking communities across the country what is needed for a successful strategy moving forward.
City of Windsor staff, along with agencies like the United Way and people with lived experience gathered at Mackenzie Hall Tuesday night to answer eight questions provided by the federal government.
"I'd like to think that we're having a say, and it's not already decided at a bureaucratic level of what's going to happen. I like to think that they are listening to us, and hearing what Canadians have to say," says poverty advocate Linda Coltman.
Coltman says the government needs to address wages, transportation, housing and health supports when developing a poverty reduction strategy.
"We're not seeing the structural supports to get people moving through the system. They're fighting. They're hitting rock bottom before they are getting on to any system, and when they get there they're not getting out, and their health deteriorates," says Coltman.
The government is seeking feedback until June 2017. To learn more about its plan or to provide feedback click here.