Tag Archives: poverty

CKMS Community News, Newsroom, Shows

CKMS News -2026-08-08- St. John’s Kitchen Opens Around the Clock as Homelessness Crisis Deepens in Waterloo Region

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CKMS News – 2026-08-08 – St. John’s Kitchen Opens Around the Clock as Homelessness Crisis Deepens in Waterloo Region

Eren Yoruk

Kitchener, ON — St. John’s Kitchen in Kitchener has permanently expanded its services to operate around the clock, responding to growing demand from people experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region.

The kitchen, operated by The Working Centre, began its new 24/7 schedule on July 27. It now welcomes drop-ins from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., before providing overnight support from 9 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. The facility closes briefly each morning for cleaning and setup.

The expansion comes as homelessness continues to grow across the region. The Region of Waterloo reported in 2024 that chronic homelessness had increased by an average of 28 per cent each year since 2020. Joe Mancini, director and co-founder of The Working Centre, says the growing number of people experiencing homelessness has put increasing pressure on services.

In this story, we speak with Mancini, St. John’s Kitchen staff and volunteers, and a person experiencing homelessness about the impact of the kitchen The interviews explore what the 24/7 operation means for people using the facility, how staff respond to the growing demand, and the broader housing, employment and drug-related factors contributing to homelessness in Waterloo Region.

For more information about St. John’s Kitchen, visit theworkingcentre.org.  

CKMS Community News, Newsroom

Local organization connects people to land so they can grow food and increase their food security

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Host: Leah Gerber

Food prices are top of mind for many people at the moment. Public Health Ontario describes food insecurity as not having enough income to afford healthy and adequate food. The Waterloo Region Community Garden Network is an organization that connects people with land so they can grow their own food and help stretch their dollars at the store. 

Radio Waterloo spoke with Doug Jones, the chair of the Network to talk about how people can increase their own food security, as well as how food security can be increased at a community level. Radio Waterloo also spoke with Gladys Rosana who gardens a quarter-acre plot at the Petersburg Community Garden with her husband about the reality of what it takes to grow much of the food they eat for the year themselves, and how this has impacted their food security. 

CKMS Community News, Newsroom, Shows

CKMS News – 2020-05-31 – Impacts of COVID on poor folks and people who use drugs.

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Host: Julian Ichim

This show will examine the impact of the corona virus on homeless people and drug users. This show will be the first of three shows examining this problem from different perspectives.

Today’s show we will talk to two street activists about the impact the corona virus has on poor people and drug users.

Ivan Stoicovic is a local organizer who has been organizing for more than 30 years in Kitchener, Toronto, and Kingston. His activism ranges from Tent Cities, to stopping the war in Yugoslavia in 1998 and he has been very vocal on the issues of poverty and homelessness working with groups ranging from OCAP, KCAP, Kitchener Tent city Coordinating committee and other anti poverty organizations to anti imperialist groups such as the Kitchener Canada Cuba Friendship organization to the Hugo Chavez Peoples Defense Brigade.

Following Ivan, we will hear from Jonathan Stone who has helped organize the last three tent cities in Kitchener and is also a member of the Revolutionary student Movement.

In both of these interviews the impact of the corona virus on poor people and drug users is discussed from the perspective of organisers impacted people.

My next episode will share some experiences and perspectives from health care workers, and in the third part of this miniseries we will hear from drug users.

Download show: https://radiowaterloo.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-31-CKMSNews-COVIDImpactsOnPovertyAndDrugUsers.mp3

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This program is a part of the “Local Journalism Initiative” grant program and is funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, the Government of Canada, and the CKMS Newsroom.