The Community Action on Homelessness released a report card on homelessness in Halifax. If gives a good background to the situation of poverty in urban Nova Scotia. Check it out:
Morgan Storm
Report Card on Urban Homelessness
Humility
The lowest time of my life was when I was living in Halifax. I had a two year old daughter. My partner was seriously ill and unable to work. We also had a teenager living with us, having left his abusive family life. He was a great kid, but the jobs he held tended to be few and far between. In short, we had four mouths to feed and one small salary coming in.
One afternoon, we realized we had absolutely no food, and no money to buy food. We had been a middle-class family, and we had no idea how to access the food bank or even where one was located. I did what I had to do – I swallowed my pride and called my parents.
My parents are wonderful, supportive people. Of course, they told me to come home right away. So, leaving my partner and the teenager at the apartment, my daughter and I started out for the Annapolis Valley.
When I got to my childhood home, my brother was there. He invited me to his house, as he had lots of canned goods and wanted to help. I can not describe the pain and humiliation I felt, seeing my daughter hold open a plastic bag, and having my sister-in-law filling it with food for my family.
I had to return to Halifax that night, so the rest of my family could eat. I left my parents’ home with money for gas, a full belly, several bags of non-perishable goods, and a whole lot of humility.
Today, we are very healthy and happy, but I never forget that experience. When I see someone living in poverty, I am very conscious of his or her pride, and I never feel superior. I look to a person who is homeless or a person at the food bank, and I think how fortunate I am and how quickly one’s fortune can change.
Humility in Halifax
Ignatieff.me
I received an email recently that made my blood boil. It was from the Federal Conservatives and it was promoting a newly formed website dedicated to the denouncement of Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff. The website is ignatieff.me and I’m sure it took a lot of the Conservative’s funds to create and promote. Since receiving the email, I have seen advertisements for the website in newspapers and on the television.
Now, one politician insulting another is certainly nothing new. I’m sure no matter which party you lean towards or which politician you hold in a better light, they have engaged in this type of mud-slinging. Usually, though, such a large campaign is launched only when an election is near. Apparently, the Conservative Party fears Mr. Ignatieff so much, they are launching a smear campaign before there is even a thought of a federal election!
I know that politics is all a big game of chess. But right now, Canadians are struggling to make ends meet. I really don’t think we are amused by such fun and games. I, personally, want the federal government working together to better our economy and to help Canadians with our basic necessities. Don’t we have bigger issues, as a country, than the political whims of one party against another?
My email ended with the statement, “Unlike County Ignatieff, we depend on grassroots Canadians like you.” Okay, how stupid do you think I am, Mr. Doug Finley, National Campaign Director? I am a part of grassroots struggles every day, and the Conservatives have done little to improve our standing. In fact, with cut backs from social spending, the cuts to Status of Women Canada, to the Arts and Culture organizations, and to numerous other grassroots groups, I think Conservative Party has a lot of nerve to make such a statement!
I’m letting Mr. Harper off the hook here a little bit, because I realize that such campaigns are organized and implemented by the campaign office. At least tax payers’ money is not directly paying for such advertisements. That being said, Mr. Harper is the representative for the Conservative Party. So, I say to Mr. Harper, I am not interested in your party’s opinion of Mr. Ignatieff or any other politician right now. I am interested in the economy of Canada my fellow Canadians who are struggling to survive. As Prime Minister, I would hope this would be your priority as well.
Morgan Storm
Posted in Commentary
Tagged jack layton, michael ignateiff, politics, poverty reduction, rural poverty, stephen harper, urban poverty
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Poor Pay Up
DeNeen Brown, a staff writer for the Washington Post, wrote an article entitled “Poor? Pay Up.” The article illustrates how much more things cost when living below the poverty line. It made me think.
Let’s say I am a single woman making minimum wage, which is $8.60 an hour. The company for whom I work only hires part time employees, as they don’t want to pay out benefits, so I average 25 hours a week. I would bring home $400 every two weeks, which gives me a yearly take home income of $10,400.
Obviously, no credit agency will give me a mortgage, so I have to pay rent. The average rent in Nova Scotia for a one bedroom apartment is $490 a month (www.cmha.gc.ca). This leaves me with $310 for the month. Boy, I hope my heat and hot water are included in my rent!
Posted in Commentary
Tagged policy commentary, poverty reduction, rural poverty, urban poverty, what is poverty, working poor
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Rural Poverty Portal
Looking on the internet for information on rural poverty, I found: www.ruralpovertyportal.org. This site looks at rural poverty all around the world. You simply click on an area, and it gives information and statistics on rural poverty in that country.
When I clicked on North America, the results were very interesting. The website states that, on a world scale, North America is associated with prosperity. Yet there is poverty there, and most of it is in rural areas. In 2002, one out of every five children living in rural areas live in poverty. More than one quarter of rural Hispanics, Blacks, and Indigenous Americans live in poverty. It notes that especially vulnerable are the members of rural families headed by a single adult, particularly if that adult is a woman. In 2002, the poverty rate for lone parent families headed by a woman was 37%! Almost one half of indigenous people living on reserves in Canada are affected by poverty.
As a country that is supposed to be leading in prosperity, growth, and equality, these numbers are a good reality check.
Morgan
Posted in Poverty News
Tagged poverty reduction, rural poverty, rural poverty portal, urban poverty, world poverty report
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Poverty Is…
� Not being able to go to McDonald’s
� Getting a basket from the Santa Fund
� Feeling ashamed when my dad can’t get a job
� Not buying books at the book fair
� Not getting to go to birthday parties
� Hearing my mom and dad fight over money
� Not ever getting a pet because it costs too much
� Wishing you had a nice house
� Not being able to go camping
� Not getting a hot dog on hot dog day
� Not getting pizza on pizza day
� Not being able to have your friends sleep over
� Pretending that you forgot your lunch
� Being afraid to tell your mom that you need gym shoes
� Not having breakfast sometimes
� Not being able to play hockey
� Sometimes really hard because my mom gets scared and she cries
� Not being able to go to Cubs or play soccer
� Not being able to take swimming lessons
� Not being able to afford a holiday
� Not having pretty barrettes for your hair
� Not having your own private backyard
� Being teased for the way you are dressed
� Not getting to go on school trips.
When asked to define poverty, these are the answers children provided. This website and blog is focusing on policy issues regarding poverty, with the very real people who are struggling in mind. This paper hurts my heart every time I read it. It inspires me and motivates me to make a difference. That is what this website is all about.
Morgan Storm
Posted in Commentary
Tagged poverty, poverty reduction, rural poverty, urban poverty, what is poverty
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Prevention is Key
I have a personal belief that prevention is the way to improve society. If we prevent poverty, we eliminate the need for many costly services and health procedures for the men, women, and children who struggle to survive. If we prevent crime before it happens, we eliminate costly court proceedings and incarceration buildings. No matter what risks we face in society, prevention is the most cost efficient and most effective way to go. We also build a much happier, healthier, and productive culture.
It seems so simple, and yet we seem to view prevention as if it is a new initiative. Women I know who have been in the education system for many years have been advocating for this approach since they began working with children. If a child is unhappy at home, is hungry, or is afraid at school, they cannot learn. Therefore, it makes sense to prevent children from loosing their opportunities at education by ensuring they can focus on their schoolwork. Some initiatives have already been doing this. The breakfast programs at school ensure that students can at least begin their day with a nutritious meal. Schools are teaching children to talk problems through instead of using fists. I messages are a part of a childs vocabulary from grade Primary onward.
Posted in Poverty Policy
Tagged policy commentary, poverty reduction, prevention, social justice
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The Good Life
Social assistance is anything but “the good life”. In the first place, the money is not sufficient. Looking at the welfare incomes in 2006 (www.ncwcnbes.net) one can see that income assistance is not an easy ride. This website looks at the maximum welfare benefits for each province of Canada, with all the federal and provincial benefits. For example, a single, employable person on social assistance receives $6,005 a year. The before tax low income cut off is $18,260. That is a difference of $12,255 a year! All the household types on social assistance examined in this report fall well below the poverty line. Is this an easy ride? I think not.
Take into account as well the stigma attached to being a recipient of social assistance. Our society has latched on to the idea of “welfare bums”, and we actually blame people for living in poverty. If a person on social assistance applies for a job, they are unlikely to get that job because the employer will assume they are lazy and do not want to work. I have heard story after story of people who want to work, but have been refused jobs on that basis. In rural areas, in particular, this is difficult. There are not many jobs to begin with, and when everyone knows your life circumstances, the discrimination is all the more rampant.
Morgan Storm