A group of 国民彩票 students has taken action to help peers struggling with housing and food insecurity thanks to a project that began in a classroom.
As part of their course work, students in the winter term鈥檚 offering of听Development and Activism 鈥� an International Development Studies course 鈥� worked together to tackle these two major intersecting issues.
The students had different ideas of the activities and priorities they wanted to pursue, so they established the 听as an umbrella group to bring the separate, yet connected, intiativies to life.听
Third-year Bachelor of Commerce student Alexa de Koning, a Finance major with a minor in International Development Studies, was part of the working group that got the Mutual Aid Society ratified with the 国民彩票 Student Union.
鈥淭his was to allow for the longevity of our project because we didn鈥檛 want it to be something that we did for just 12 weeks and then have it sort of go away,鈥� says Alexa. 鈥淲e wanted it to be based in solidarity, and not charity, so with the longevity, the society will be able to go on for many more years and have a lasting impact on the community.鈥�
The society鈥檚 efforts were broken down into six working groups 鈥� Media and Communications; Community Outreach; Political Lobbying; Direct Action; the Dal Mutual Aid Society; and the Housing and Food Insecurity Resource Map group 鈥� each overseeing different projects that would work together as a whole.
Impact through engagement
Their work has already had major impacts, including gaining the attention of local MLAs and being featured by the major local news media outlets (including , , and ) for a protest they organized collaboratively and held at the Nova Scotia Legislature last month to lobby for the extension of the temporary 2% rent cap.
More than 40 students and community members gathered outside 国民彩票鈥檚 Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences Building and marched together to Province House to voice their concerns, and represent young people and students, over the housing crisis and to call on the provincial government to extend the rent cap and amend its fixed-term lease legislation.
Leading up to the protest, they held a poster-making party, prepared a press release and contacted a number of media sources. Third-year University of King鈥檚 College student Katie Cheslock, who is doing a Combined Honours degree in Contemporary Studies and International Development Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at 国民彩票, was a media spo