Ensuring Opportunity Campaign to End Poverty in Contra Costa
In a region of great wealth, thousands of families in Contra Costa still struggle to make ends meet. Because of the high cost of living, a family of four in our County needs to bring in more than $72,000 per year just to afford basic needs such as housing, food and childcare.
In 2014, a broad coalition of community members, including business and labor leaders, philanthropists, government agencies, nonprofit service providers, faith communities, and residents joined together to create the Ensuring Opportunity Campaign to End Poverty in Contra Costa. Ensuring Opportunity’s goal is to end this economic disparity by addressing the root causes of poverty through policy change, focusing on six policy areas: Economic Security, Housing Security, Health Security, Food Security, Education, and Safety.
The Campaign holds as central truths that:
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- Poverty is not inevitable and can be eradicated by our actions
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- Equity and justice must exist at the center of all our systems.
The Campaign’s ultimate vision is that all Contra Costa residents have the resources they need to support themselves and their families, and that they have a powerful voice in shaping local political, cultural and economic systems.
Ensuring Opportunity and its community partners are achieving this vision through policy advocacy, community power building and shifting community assumptions about poverty’s causes and solutions. Through convenings, town halls with elected officials, and issue-specific coalitions and other strategies, the Campaign brings together policy makers, community leaders, residents, businesses, labor, government agencies, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations to create lasting solutions and ensure that all residents have the opportunity to thrive.
The Ensuring Opportunity campaign embraces a “big tent” approach, meaning that all voices, views and interests are welcome.