Newsflash Confused about who Investing in Children is, what we do, how we do it and why we do it? We have put together a new PowerPoint presentation that provides a thorough overview of our organization, and how you can work with us to put all children's needs front of the line. You can view a PDF version of the presentation by clicking here. Viewing the file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click below to download Adobe Acrobat Voices Do you have something to say? E-mail it to info@investinginchildren.on.ca and we'll include your thoughts in next month's Voices section. Surfin' Safari Voices for Children is a not-for-profit leadership organization dedicated to strengthening the well-being of Ontario's young people. Founded in 1992 by child psychiatrist Paul Steinhauer, Voices for Children grew out of a shared concern that not enough people were sufficiently aware of the importance of children's healthy development. On the Voices for Children website, you will find reports covering a wide variety of issues affecting children. Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics You may not look like a million bucks, but you can't look worse than $121,900. According to Statistics Canada, Canada's national net wealth is now $3.9 trillion. This number is derived from the sum of all non-financial assets in all sectors of the economy. Per capita, that means each citizen is "worth" $121,900. So the real question is, where is my other $121,850? Back Issues Did you miss an issue of Come Together? Visit the E-mailer Archives to catch up! Subscription Info If this was forwarded to you and you would like to become a subscriber of Investing in Children's monthly E-mailer, please send an e-mail message to info@investinginchildren.on.ca, and write SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. To unsubscribe from the E-mailer, please send an e-mail to info@investinginchildren.on.ca and write UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Contact Us Investing In Children 795 Wonderland Rd. S., Suite 103 London, ON  N6K 3C2 phone: 519-433-8996   fax: 519-433-6698 www.investinginchildren.on.ca info@investinginchildren.on.ca Copyright 2002 Investing in Children. All Rights Reserved The E-mailer is best viewed at 1024x768 resolution.

"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give." -Winston Churchill Welcome Welcome to the October/November issue of Come Together, Investing in Children's E-mailer. This month we look at a developing new trend in the business community, a new report on social transformation, and an innovative new community analysis framework. We also have a unique piece in this e-mailer, an article by Investing in Children's Veronica Morrow, drawing on her experiences abroad. We are still looking to include more content written or suggested by our readers. Please contact Greg Picken at info@investinginchildren.on.ca if you would like to contribute to the e-mailer. As well, we're always interested in your feedback. If you have any ideas, concerns or suggestions, please e-mail them to info@investinginchildren.on.ca Corporate Social Responsibility A growing trend in the business community is a move towards Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR. Adopting CSR moves a company from philanthropy to a whole new level of social responsibility. Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR), Canada’s leading voice for corporate social responsibility defines CSR as “operating in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner while recognizing the interests of its stakeholders.” Unique under a CSR model, stakeholders are not just shareholders, but customers, employees, business partners, local communities, the environment and society at large. What is CSR? Click here. The Great Social Transformation Judith Maxwell’s paper The Great Social Transformation: Implications for the Social Role of Government in Ontario was commissioned by former Ontario Premier Mike Harris to “survey the changes in the social landscape and to highlight the key policy considerations the [Panel on the Role of Government] committee should consider in its deliberations.” Maxwell describes the way our social norms have changed in the past 20 years and how social policy has failed to keep up with the changes. The result is that poor and middle-class families of Ontario are being hit hard in the wake of the “fiscal crisis which dominated the 1980s and 1990s”. What did the study find? Click here to find out. Ten Indicators of Family and Community Success What affects children’s outcomes? Genetics? Culture? Wealth? Family and parenting practices? Access to resources? How do you take the broad spectrum of factors that impact on a child, and create an assessment tool to reflect them? In the production of the document “Early Childhood Development in Niagara Falls, Ontario”, the Early Years Action Committee in Niagara Falls developed a way to analyze their community, according to some broad indicators. The indicators had to meet two criteria: there had to be evidence that the indicators were related to children’s developmental outcome and they had to be amenable to change through the efforts and actions of families and communities. What are the indicators? Click here. Living Abroad: The Real Life Veronica Morrow, Investing in Children’s Community Club Coordinator has spent the past eight years working with NGOs (as an international volunteer or staff capacity) in Laos, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Uganda. Here are some of her thoughts on what is happening in Thailand and her experiences living and working with the people there. What I found was life changing. Initially, I went to Thailand, specifically Bangkok and Chaing Mai to teach and train advanced life guarding skills and open a fitness centre on the behalf of the Bangkok YMCAY- lofty dreams with no financial resources on a one year contact. After living in Thailand for only three months, my grasp of Thai was growing, as was the need to use my professional set of teaching skills in areas like early childhood education and HIV/AIDS awareness. So, I then began to work for the next three years in our Slum community development project which consisted of 11 slum communities (urban) and Protection/Prevention projects to stop girls from entering the sex trade (rural-mainly North Eastern provinces: Phayao etc.), plus, International Projects Liaison Coordinator. Click here for more of Veronica's story.