Support growing for Faith to End Poverty

WELLAND — Do you want to help make poverty a high-profile issue in the Oct. 6 provincial election? If so, sign on to a campaign being launched next week.

Two groups, the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition (ISARC) and Poverty Free Ontario, are the movers behind a poverty-free Ontario campaign, Faith to End Poverty, that is attracting considerable support in communities across the province.

Its rallying cry, Let’s Vote for a Poverty Free Ontario, is the message on signs that will start springing up on lawn signs starting Thursday, Sept. 15.

Rev. Jim Mulligan, pastor of St. Kevin’s parish, Welland, said the initiative does not target one political party over another. He describes it as “non-partisan” because all three parties in the legislature and their leaders supported the Poverty Reduction Act, whose intent was to make Ontario poverty free.

St. Kevin’s, 303 Niagara St., is one of two sites in Welland riding that will be distributing the campaign signs next week. The other is Bridges Community Health Centre,177 King St., Port Colborne.

The Let’s Vote for a Poverty Free Ontario signs, as well as campaign buttons, will be available at both locations from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A sign campaign, it is hoped, will help make poverty a more visible issue during the campaign, Mulligan said in an interview.

But its organizers also want supporters to “grill” candidates who come to their doorsteps and in other face-to-face opportunities about their and their party’s views and plans for ending poverty in Ontario, Mulligan said.

Mulligan knows first hand the toll poverty is taking on people in the Welland area. His parish has a food bank that is struggling with an increased caseload and growing demand on its resources. His parishioners are generous in their support, he said, but it is becoming the norm to issue special requests for various non-perishable foods because supplies run out quickly.

In tandem with the sign campaign, a prayer vigil, ecumenical in nature, is being held at St. Kevin’s Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m.

Mulligan said Bishop Gerard Bergie of St. Catharines diocese will preside at the service, with Rev. Chris Fickling of Central United Church, Welland, sharing a homily reflection. Fickling, a member of The Tribune’s community editorial board, authored an eloquent column with poverty as its theme, This is what poverty felt like (July 7). Mulligan said Fickling’s homily is sure to be “moving and challenging.”

Lori Kleinsmith of Bridges Community Health Centre said that while there are many important issues in the provincial campaign, “one that is of urgent concern is poverty.”

She said 1.7 million people in Ontario live in poverty.

“Only a few years ago, many of these people never imagined that they would be unemployed, losing their homes, applying for social assistance and visiting food banks. Our shrinking social safety net, along with the recession, has created many poverty traps,” she said.

Media conferences will be held simultaneously in many communities across Ontario the morning of Sept. 15 to launch the election-style sign blitz.

By JOE BARKOVICH/Tribune Staff

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3288940

Moving poverty debate to the front burner

WELLAND – Where is poverty in the provincial election campaign which gets underway officially today?

Health care, education, green energy and the economy rank as top issues for voters, according to news stories and polls.

While poverty is becoming higher profile these days, it still may not be a top issue in the minds of many Ontarians.

A concerted effort is being made during the campaign to move poverty from the back burner to the front for more people.

Front-line workers and volunteers already know that is where it should be.

Others may still be in need of convincing.

The initiative is being led by two groups: Poverty Free Ontario and the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition (ISARC).

It is making headway in the province with faith communities and social justice groups in more than 20 communities already on board.

In Ontario, 1.7 million people live in poverty, the highest poverty rate in the past 30 years.

Statistics tell the story of poverty in our province and it is not a pretty picture:

Ontario’s poverty rate is rising sharply. As evidenced by more than 400,000 people using food banks last year, up 28% from the 2008 total, 314,250;

At the current minimum wage in Ontario, a person working full-year, full-time earns $1,064 below the poverty line;

One-third of all children living in poverty in Canada in 2008 were in families with a parent working full-year, full-time;

In Canada 50% of people living in poverty have some post-secondary education and 45% of the unemployed had a post-secondary education or degree.

I am not making up the numbers, they are provided by Poverty Free Ontario and are based on responsible research.

In addition, other reliable resources about poverty in Ontario and Canada are available and worthy of study. Three of the many include: Persistent Poverty, voices from the margins (the most recent book from ISARC, available at Welland library); Hunger Count 2010, a comprehensive report on hunger and food bank use in Canada with recommendations for change, from Food Banks Canada; and Fighting Hunger — Who’s Hungry? by the Daily Bread Food Bank. Both are available on the agencies’ websites on the Internet.

Though it was released four years ago, A Legacy of Poverty? Addressing Cycles of Poverty and the Impact of Poverty on Child Health in the Niagara Region provided startling, eye-opening statistics about poverty’s inroads in the region.

If anything, some of the findings and statistics in that study are probably worse today.

We need to be bothered by what is going on in Ontario — not just in big places like Toronto, but right here in our own backyard.

There are too many stories about how local agencies are struggling, groaning, under the workload and weight of poverty-related problems.

Some questions, offered here as food for thought:

Why do so many schools have breakfast programs to help children who come to school hungry or lacking proper nutrition get through the morning?

Why are food banks — our emergency food providers — continually searching for new ways to raise food to help fill their shelves? Why has their plight of more demand and fewer resources become a refrain with which we are too familiar?

Why do people on social assistance have to choose between buying food or paying the utility bills or monthly rent?

Why are new words creeping into our vocabulary? A generation ago, we did not know about much, let alone discuss, “food insecurity” but it is now part of regular usage. Why do we have families who live in the shadows of “food insecurity” — not having access to enough food to meet basic needs — day after day for some of them?

And so we have Poverty Free Ontario and ISARC embarking on a non-partisan initiative, Let’s Vote for a Poverty Free Ontario which, if successful, just may lift poverty a few rungs higher on the provincial issues campaign ladder.

Its sign campaign, being launched Sept. 15 in Welland and Port Colborne, is groundbreaking in more ways than one.

It will do much in fostering and promoting solidarity among people of social conscience. It gets off the ground in Welland at St. Kevin’s church, 303 Niagara St., and in Port Colborne at Bridges Community Health Centre, 177 King St.

Lori Kleinsmith, the health promoter at Bridges, says in a new release: “Finding a balance between charity and justice is not easy.

“Food banks and other assistance programs provide many ways of helping people manage conditions of poverty a little better, but do not truly address eradicating poverty. The persistence of poverty across Ontario reflects a failure of collective responsibility to create basic conditions health and well-being for all.”

Something to think about, and take action on, as we move into a provincial election campaign.

See story and photo about the Faith to End Poverty Campaign in Thursday’s edition of The Tribune.

By JOE BARKOVICH/City Beat
[email protected]

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3286945

A Poverty Free Ontario… is it possible?

The Social Muse – Michelle Gratton

Many faces of the homeless

CORNWALL – The definition of homelessness has changed – just ask Tim.

He has a roof over his head most nights, and a post office box for mail. But it’s been nearly a year since the 36-year-old Cornwall man had permanent shelter to call his own.

“I’m a couch surfer,” he says. “With social assistance, I can’t afford to have an apartment and eat.”

Tim, who didn’t want his last name published, receives under $600 a month from Ontario Works, or less when he collects a paycheque from odd jobs.

“I haven’t been working for two and a half weeks,” says Tim, a construction worker with more than two decades of experience.

The lack of steady income is the main reason he’s unable to get back on his feet, but it’s only one factor that led him to the streets in the first place.

His mother — “my best friend,” he says — died three years ago. He began drinking heavily, and dabbled in drugs. Last fall, he split with his common-law wife of 15 years. The company he started a few years ago faltered, thanks to the economic downturn.

For more than two weeks last winter, he slept in the Cornwall Square parking garage. Then he found shelter in cars and trailers. Now, he stays in the homes of friends he met over lunch at the Agape’s soup kitchen.

He’s not the only one.

“I know 150 people who are homeless or couch surfers,” Tim says.

The numbers aren’t disputed, and agencies are worried about the growing number of those living in poverty.

“I think the issue of homelessness is growing,” says Alyssa Blais, executive director of the Agape Centre. “But poverty in general is growing, the working poor (population) is growing.”

“It’s not as obvious as it is in other communities,” adds Michelle Gratton, head of the Social Development Council. “People say quickly we don’t have homelessness.”

But Gratton says she knows many young people who identify in the same group as Tim: without their own home and just scraping by, often because of broken relationships.

“It’s not easy to be a single-parent family,” says Blais. “It really is a two-person economy. Living together makes it a lot easier, but there’s a high percentage of single mothers.”

Assistance is available through Ontario Works and Cornwall’s housing agency, but it’s not always enough to allow people to get ahead. Many aren’t even aware of the resources.

“There’s a lot of programs, a lot of assistance in the community, a lot of places people can go,” says Gratton. “For them it’s a lack of information… They don’t know where to go.”

She says the gaping hole in city services is an emergency shelter, especially for men, so they don’t fall into a cycle of sleeping on the street or friends’ sofas.

Tim doesn’t hesitate to agree with Gratton; he even plans to sleep outside city hall later this fall as a way to raise awareness of the need for a shelter.

There’s a man from Montreal who might appreciate it as well — he’s been spending many of his nights outside the Agape Centre.

“We do have a homeless man living underneath our stairs,” says Blais. “We’ve been telling him to leave and he still comes back.”

Mayor Bob Kilger says he would need to see data and research before supporting any new initiatives targeting homelessness in the city; for now he’s satisfied with the current slate of services.

“I know that we have very quick response and a lot of co-operation between stakeholders,” he says. “We’re able to respond 24/7 in a very timely fashion, and work with people on a case-by-case basis.”

Though Kilger acknowledges the problem, he says homelessness isn’t a major topic of discussion at city hall.

“It’s not brought to our attention that alarm bells are going off,” says Kilger. “That’s not to diminish anyone’s situation…but I’m satisfied right now that we’re being very responsive on the issue.”

For short term help, the homeless can find emergency assistance through Cornwall’s social housing agency.

Melissa Morgan, program supervisor, says a 24-hour phone line, plus partnerships with the police and other groups ensure anyone who asks for shelter will have it. It fills in much the same way Baldwin House helps out women who need immediate care.

“We do everything we can,” says Morgan. “No individual should be without housing overnight.”

The domiciliary hostel program also doles out cash to those who need temporary help finding a place to live. It’s designed to fill the gap left by Cornwall’s housing corporation, which has a lengthy waiting list for subsidized units.

“People often come and they need shelter immediately,” explains Anne-Marie Fobert-Poirier, program co-ordinator for the city’s housing department. “But we don’t have any emergency units.”

There are several programs in place to assist with rent payments or energy bills for people struggling to cover their costs. For those who do snag one of nearly 2,000 subsidized apartments throughout the counties, rent is steady at one-third of their income.

The waiting list has around 750 names, says social and housing services manager Debora Daigle, a slight increase from previous years. Singles have to be patient longer than most, since most units are designed for families or seniors.

Our greatest need would be for one-bedroom units for non-seniors,” says Fobert-Poirier.

With a lower turnover than usual — attributed to a shaky economy — people have a long time to wait for vacancies.

In the meantime, around 100 people on the waiting list are currently receiving help through other initiatives, like the so-called “eviction avoidance” program. Daigle says the city received $23.5 million from the provincial and federal governments this year to pay for the services, in addition to $9 million earmarked for housing.

Tim, however, has little faith in government initiatives, so he’s finding help elsewhere. He took a withdrawal management program to end his drug and alcohol use; he’s handing out resumes to find work; he found a basement to rent from a friend for $400 a month — he moves in next month.

“I’m tired of the way I’m living,” he says.

The turning point for him came last December, when he tried to overdose on drugs. Now he carries around a picture of his 10-year-old daughter Samantha in his shirt pocket as a reminder of why he’s still here, and as motivation to stay on the straight-and-narrow.

“I found a cause: helping others,” he says.

He has company in Gary Samler, a semi-retired poverty activist who ran for Cornwall city council last fall. He took his campaign to the streets this summer to improve his understanding of the issue.

“That is my number one goal, is to raise community awareness and the change the way we think about homelessness in Cornwall,” he says.

Under his street name Reggie Walker, Samler eats at the Agape and wanders downtown with other homeless. He says a one-stop drop-in centre would make a huge difference for those struggling to find work, fill their stomachs and access resources.

“There’s nothing for them to do other than walk around,” he says.

Tim knows what that’s like. He’s desperate for a job, knowing a steady paycheque is the only obstacle between his current lifestyle and a home of his own.

“I have a good reputation,” he says. “I’m always on time. When I have work, I’m a workaholic.”

For those that might need a little more help, Blais says solutions should come from all city stakeholders.

“It takes a concerted effort from the community, municipality and the clients themselves,” she says. “I would like to see a poverty reduction plan for Cornwall.”

She’s already working toward that goal, alongside Gratton and others, and they have a Poverty Free Ontario rally planned for next month.

“The most important thing is to bring the issue out and let people realize it isn’t an epidemic, but it is a problem,” says Samler. “It’s something that should be looked in to.”

By CHERYL BRINK, [email protected]

http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3267079

Packed forum tackles social assistance overhaul

SARNIA – Ontario’s social assistance programs are hurting the very people they are designed to help, local residents say.

Jocelyn Sawczuk, for one, told a social assistance review forum Friday she’s proof the system isn’t working. Forced to turn to Ontario Works because she can’t find full-time work, she was robbed and is now on the verge of being evicted.

“Ontario Works said they couldn’t help me,” the Sarnia woman said.

Sawczuk pays $552 a month for rent, which leaves her $42 a month to live on. She has a student debt, and that’s kept her from attending university to study sociology. She’s been accepted, but can’t afford to pay the bills to go, she said.

“If (the government) helped with student debt I’d be sitting in university, not on OW,” she said.

Dana Milne has heard many stories like Sawczuk’s. Milne, of the Income Security Advocacy Centre, co-facilitated the forum held at All Saints’ Anglican Church in Sarnia.

More than 80 people, many living in poverty, gathered to share their stories and suggestions about Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).

“These programs are not working for people,” said Milne, who added more is needed than just dumping additional money into the system.

“OW is set up to be a punitive and mean program,” she said.

The province has announced it intends to overhaul the social assistance system. A commission has been formed to gather input, and all of the stories heard at the Sarnia event will be forwarded to the government, Milne said.

The forum was organized by Community Legal Assistance Sarnia and the Sarnia-Lambton Poverty Reduction Strategy Committee.

One woman named Sharon, who asked that her last name not be published, told the crowd that as an ODSP recipient who works within the social assistance system, she believes current practices dehumanize applicants. Some ODSP applicants are rejected the first time they apply simply as a matter of policy, she said.

“We are not treated with any dignity or compassion.”

Co-facilitator Darren Nesbit said the government needs to tear down punitive barriers that keep people on social assistance from living regular lives.

Nesbit, who is on ODSP, said he’s been punished for living with a girlfriend who was working. The government claws back benefits from a recipient when someone considered to be a spouse is employed.

“She is trying to go out and make her life better and I’m penalized for that at the end of the day,” he said.

Milne said public pressure on the government is the only way to ensure poverty reduction is at the heart of the newly reconstituted social assistance system, she said.

“We’re going to need everyone to keep pushing with us. We’re going to need to make this an election issue.”

http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3246717

Poverty advocates make pitch to narrow the gap

HALTON – Regional advocates for those living lives of poverty met face to face with two government officials conducting a fact-finding tour about the needs of the downtrodden.

At the invitation of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, Community Development Halton and Poverty Free Halton representatives met with Frances Lankin and Munir Sheikh, commissioners of the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario on behalf of the Ministry of Community and Social Services.

“Poverty in Halton is often hidden, buried under the veneer of affluence and well-being,” said John Versluis, co-chair of Poverty Free Halton.

“The gap between the annual income of a family of four on social assistance and that of the median Halton family income is $5,793 per month or approximately $69,230 per year. These people live in different worlds, making bridges of compassion and understanding difficult to build,” Versluis added.

Rishia Burke and Jen Gerrard of Community Development Halton told the commissioners that they, and others from their research team, had crossed the region talking with people living in poverty.

The many stories they heard showed that the basic necessities of life such as food and shelter, along with recreation and opportunities to belong to their community, were out of the reach of those in poverty and especially those on social assistance, who live in “deep poverty.”

“Mental health was always an underlying theme during community conversations. Poor people live under tremendous stress. They do not have enough money to live (off of) and face choices between housing or food. Every day they face the stresses of surviving,” said Burke.

Gerrard told the commissioners that programs and services should respect the dignity of people. They should not feel “less as a result of asking for assistance to meet basic needs.”

As the conversation moved on to social assistance reform, Joey Edwardh, Executive Director of Community Development Halton, said any recommendations for change must be evidence-based.

“Today, there is no evidence-based process for determining social assistance rates and as a result, the benefits have no relation to the cost of living in a community,” said Edwardh.

In a letter on the website for the Ontario Federation of Community Mental Health and Addiction Programs, commissioners Lankin and Sheikh stated that as part of its Poverty Reduction Strategy, the provincial government has given it “… a significant mandate to make recommendations to reform social assistance in Ontario. We need to build a better system that improves employment opportunities and provides security for people who cannot work.”

The commissioners are receiving feedback until Sept. 1, 2011, so they can develop options in late fall/early winter. They will seek further input and expect to make more community visits.

http://www.insidehalton.com/news/article/1042552–poverty-advocates-make-pitch-to-narrow-the-gap