Saint John the Baptist-King Edward (SJBKE) school, one of two south-end Saint John schools that will be decommissioned and replaced by a new-build school at Rainbow Park is more than a K-8 school.

The first update for the When Children Succeed, We Break the Cycle of Poverty project is complete and available here for review.

There is a powerful change in direction that is taking place in Greater Saint John. A determined effort to address generational poverty is seeing success. This city no longer has the highest rate of child poverty in Canada and actually is leading the way in reducing poverty.

BCAPI Luncheon Program 2018.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative (BCAPI), a progressive movement of the Saint John business community to help the city end generational poverty.

The Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative (BCAPI) was pleased to see New Brunswick’s 10-year education plan send a strong message about education in the province – if we want our province to thrive, our children must come first, education outcomes must improve, and it’s up to all of us to make it happen.

Saint John has learned a lot about how to reduce poverty. Our high child poverty rate, when compared to other cities in New Brunswick, is caused by generational poverty. The road to breaking the cycle is complex but simply put, our success lies in each child and family knowing they are important to our city’s future, that their talents are needed and that our community cares and is fully equipped to help them achieve their education and economic self-sufficiency. Our end goal: no child ever again will suffer a lifetime of poverty.

While it was first delivered more than seven decades ago, the second inaugural address of Franklin Delano Roosevelt remains one of the most important political documents of the past 100 years. It was given in January of 1937, as North America remained mired in a prolonged recession, not unlike the one New Brunswick is currently experiencing. Yet instead of the standard political trope about the need for job creation, FDR issued a call to action to those citizens who collectively wanted a better future.

Without substantial changes to our approach to education we will not solve our economic problems in New Brunswick.

Poverty ends when a child succeeds.

The Province traditionally funds education equally from one region to the next, no matter if one area has different needs from another. Ironically, this approach creates severe inequality with educational outcomes.

Saint John has a serious and deeply-rooted problem with multi-generational poverty. The very future of this city could be at stake if significant progress is not made to end this social inequality.

The most basic and well-known rule of investing smart is to “start early,” as it generally applies to the stock market or retirement planning. Achieve Literacy Greater Saint John has found that it also applies to solving our literacy problem.

When I see the continued effort of our community to support the education and well-being of our young people, working together to break the cycle of poverty, I think back to where it all started. Bill Gale was the fellow who got us all on this road – we really owe it all to him.

There are many organizations and individuals working diligently to improve the lives of low income families in Saint John. Among those groups is the Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative which has published a position paper that includes some numbers that should be a clarion call for our entire city.

Greater Saint John Business Leaders are calling upon the Government of New Brunswick and all party candidates to help improve education outcomes in Saint John.

Education Business leaders challenge politicians to tackle low literacy, high dropout rates.

Poverty Sen. Hugh Segal says province should follow Ontario's lead in solving major social issue.

On September 27th, 2013, Fortis Properties teamed up with 150 businesses and raised $102,500.00 to help Saint John break the poverty cycle.

On May 25th , Fortis Properties teamed up with more than 125 local businesses to raise $102,000 for the Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative (BCAPI).