The Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition kicked off the city's Poverty and Homelessness Action Week this morning, erecting a big yellow pledge wall outside the Elijah Smith Building.

'This pledge wall will hopefully be filled by the end of the week,' said coalition co-chair Ross Findlater.

Individual residents and businesses are being asked to tack up a pledge to do something that reduces poverty in the city.

'It can be cooking food for the soup kitchen, financial support for the food bank, or just learning more about poverty and homelessness in the city,' said Findlater.

Yukon Energy spokesperson Janet Patterson was the first to tack up a pledge on the wall, which was donated by the Sun Dog Retreat.

'Well, I woke up this morning and saw snow outside my window, and you know, snow isn't really an issue for me, or for most of the employees at Yukon Energy,' she said.

'It's not an issue for us as it can be for a number of Yukoners. We approached the Anti-Poverty Coalition and wanted to know what we could do to help.

'I am happy to announce we will donate a van to the food bank and $10,000 to help in the first year of operations, and I know a number of Yukon Energy employees will volunteer their services to the food bank.'

With that, Patterson turned around and stapled a laminated sheet bearing Yukon Energy's pledge to the wall.

The anti-poverty coalition announced plans last week to set up the Yukon's first food bank in Whitehorse by next fall.

Findlater then invited residents to attend a number of events held during the week corresponding with the action week.

This evening, renowned Ontario contractor John D'Angelo will give a presentation on his company's successes in creating affordable housing.

His firm, Martinway Contracting Ltd., is responsible for creating more than 1,000 units of affordable housing for seniors, the disabled, and single parents in the Peel region, outside Toronto.

'Do we make a lot of money? No, of course not. We could definitely make more with condos,' he told reporters.

He said the personal rewards reaped by his line of work outweigh the temptation to build luxury dwellings.

Tonight's presentation, starting at 7:00 at the High Country Inn, will be a look at where his company started to where they are now, he said.

'It'll be real case examples, showing what resources you can tap into. It will focus on partnerships, how to get corporate sponsorship, universal access for the disabled in the units and LEED certification.'

The problem that needs to be eliminated, D'Angelo said, is that people need to stop talking, stop researching, stop discussing.

'People need to put the hammer to the nail and rally community support,' he said. 'You've got to have people very passionate to do it ... and that's very possible here in the Yukon.'

He will also speak at an affordable housing discussion at 7 p.m. Tuesday with local construction and development representatives at the Gold Rush Inn.

Tuesday will also see a free Kwanlin Dun First Nation barbecue from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Coyote Cabin beside the health centre.

On Wednesday, the Victoria Faulkner Women's Centre will host a women's clothing exchange from noon to 2 p.m.

Later that day, a community potluck dinner at the old Royal Canadian Legion building, now known as L'Alexandrin, will provide food, awards and free music by Kate Weekes.

On Thursday, a National Film Board (NFB) series entitled, No Place Called Home, will air at noon at the Visitor's Reception Centre Theatre on Second Avenue, followed at 7 p.m. by a youth town hall meeting, with the location to be announced.

The week will finish with another NFB film entitled, La vie en bleu, showing at noon at the Centre de la Francophonie, and a Public Service Association of Canada-hosted winter clothing drive, also at noon, in the lobby of the Yukon government administration building.