The St. Vincent de Paul Society and the Ursuline Sisters in Chatham, Ont., are not likely to make a dent in Canada’s $2 billion per year payday loan industry, but in their own small way will be taking them on.

On May 1, 2010 the Ursuline Sisters used $20,000 to launch a microfinance venture they call Angela’s Pocket. With close ties to The Women’s Centre and the local United Way, Angela’s Pocket has lent out about $8,000 in small loans to women who otherwise couldn’t raise money. The loans are for everything from a return to school to basic household appliances.

TORONTO - When Fr. Roger Brennan was living and working in a dirt-poor town 700 kms southwest of Manila in the Philippines, he didn’t think he would have to answer questions about whether it was OK to eat chicken during Lent. As far as he could see, his parishioners in Hinunangan were too poor to pass up any opportunity for a little extra protein, no matter what time of year it happens to be.

“Let’s face it, they fasted 12 months of the year,” Brennan, a Scarboro Missions priest, said.

TORONTO – When Julia Corridon arrived in Toronto five years ago, she found herself being referred, through a shelter, to an unexpected beacon of hope in the form of the Furniture Bank.