[Canada] Giving a face to poverty in Peace River

from Peace River Gazette

While the problem may not be as visible as other communities, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist in Peace River.

Carrying on in the spirit of a project brought to town last year, local residents are organizing an event they hope will heighten awareness about poverty.

Let’s Face It -- an event which will include art, skits, music and drama -- will be held June 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Athabasca Hall. The event will cap off Poverty Awareness week which will be declared for June 5-10 in Peace River.

Miriam Gair, one of the events organizers said there is a large gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ in Peace River.

“There’s quite a discrepancy, I don’t know if a lot of people are aware of that,” she said.
“This is more to promote awareness and for people to realize there is that discrepancy.”

The inspiration for the project came from the Photovoice project that toured Peace River last year. It featured photographs taken by women struggling with poverty. After the presentation, community members held discussions about possible awareness and prevention projects that could be held in Peace River.

“We thought we should do something to get people thinking,” said Gair.
The Poverty Action Group teamed up with the Peace River Art Club and the idea for a multi-medium event that would try to give a face to poverty in the Peace.

She said the signs of poverty vary from a homeless person in the streets to children who are sent to school without an appropriate lunch or aren’t able to take part in recreational activities.

“Some people just don’t have the vehicle, let alone the gas to put into it,” said Gair. “Or the dollars to get by on.”

Statistics show that in the Peace River region, according to the cost of living, income support is falling behind by $10,000 for single parent families.

According to Statistics Canada, the average income for a Peace River family in 2001 was $68,632. That number dropped to $32,152 for a single parent family 225 of which were headed by females and 25 by males. With an average of 2.7 people in the single parent families, many are living below the poverty line.

Statistics also showed that women were more likely to earn low wages with an average income of $32,444 and men at $55,094.

And at the start of 2005,one in six children in Canada were living in poverty.
“There are many people who have jobs with a fairly good income and I don’t know if they realize there are those living on marginal income and are not even meeting their basic needs,” said Gair.

These are just some of the numbers that are driving these local groups to shed some more light on the problem in hopes of eventually working towards a solution.
“Through art we hope to talk about some of the feelings of people who are facing poverty ... It’s not all focussing on despair but the element hope that there will be a brighter tomorrow.”

At this point Gair said the show is strictly focussing on awareness but organizers may work towards action in the future. The poverty awareness event is expected to showcase visual arts, music, theatre and information displays. There will also be a poverty-themed lunch.