Bermuda's family court system is currently dealing with 5,000 cases an indication of how many families are feeling the strain of poverty, according to a social philanthropist.

Michelle St Jane, chairwoman of the Police Complaints Authority and who also runs a social philanthropy law firm, KAIROS Philanthropy, was one of the recipients of the 2009 Bermuda International Women's Leadership Awards at Fairmont Southampton Princess on Friday.

In her keynote speech she called on others to join her in creating a group to address the ever increasing gap between the Island's rich and poor.

She said if something was not done now the cycle of families in crisis and anti-social behaviour would continue to repeat itself.

"Just to give you a perspective on the family crisis in Bermuda, there are currently 5,000 files in family courts — one per family — so potentially we have approximately 15,000 people who are experiencing various family crisis situations," she said.

"Even more shocking and alarming is that the court is now seeing the fourth generation, so, yes, history is repeating itself.

"But I must emphasise that not all is doom and gloom. There is a glimmer of hope. A Family Law Reform Report is due out this month. Will this report go far enough? Will it push the courts, the agencies and institutions to use their imaginations to create the changes that are needed to unify families? I hope so!"

She said a recent study completed by the Department of Statistics on low income thresholds found that in 2007, approximately 13 percent, or 3,680 households in Bermuda fell below the $41,132 relative low income threshold level or were economically disadvantaged.

And she questioned if Bermuda's rapid economic growth had come at the expense of the elderly and poor, who, she claimed, were marginalised in society.

"In Bermuda we are witnessing a loss of tradition and culture, the seeming inability to create [family housing] amid the massive construction of office building and condos.

"We must, in good conscience, come to the realisation and understanding of what life in Bermuda is really like for the marginalised.

"If we listen respectfully to the needs of the Island socially, spiritually, environmentally and economically, we can start the transformation… we can imagine the transformation… and make it happen. We can live in a country where the well being of all residents of Bermuda is everyone's concern."

She said she believed very few "forward thinkers" were examining the current crisis and she called on the group which included former Premiers such as Dame Jennifer Smith and Pamela Gordon as well as Focus drug counselling service head Sandy Butterfield and Hands of Love Founder Fern Wade — to join her in creating a think-tank on how to end the disparity between Bermuda's rich and poor.

"I plan to develop a collaborative exploration of ideas with co-enquirers who either are or may be willing to become influential change makers and 'social imagineers'.

"It will be a group of innovative thinkers would attend mindfully and pragmatically to addressing the growing gap between rich and poor in Bermuda," she said. "The implementation of the action initiatives stemming from this research should result in an improvement of the well being of the most vulnerable segments of our population and all people of Bermuda."