Walking with People in Poverty Program Review

CCBR is conducting a program review of Mennonite Central Committee Ontario’s Walking with People in Poverty Program. This project will synthesize evaluation data collected to date and conduct conversations with staff, partners, and funders to explore MCC Ontario’s current strengths and potential opportunities to better address poverty alleviation needs and service gaps. The project will develop evidence-based recommendations for MCC Ontario’s future poverty programming in alignment with both MCCO’s current strategic plan and the Region of Waterloo’s Plan to End Chronic Homelessness.

MCC Ontario has been operating its Walking with People in Poverty programs since the 1990s. The program has grown over the years and includes the following initiatives: Circle of Friends, The People’s Action Group, The Raw Carrot, Community Safety and Outreach, and advocacy focused on addressing root causes of poverty.

The research will begin with a document review. Next, we will conduct interviews with MCC Ontario partners and funders. To collect information from the staff, we will hold two in-person staff forums. The first is to present preliminary findings of the document review and gather opinions and input on the main research questions. The second is to share research findings, do member checking, and discuss recommendations. The final deliverable will be a narrative report, which summarizes the findings of the main research questions.