Poverty Coalition addresses the "working poor"

from My Kawartha

Bill Huskinson tells a story he believes says it all about the war on poverty.
"It's about a man who stood on a riverbank, watching dozens of people float by, struggling in the water."

"He was trying to rescue them. He kept going in and pulling people to shore, one by one. But, he couldn't keep up; there were too many."

"As the people were swept away, the rescuer was getting more upset, until somebody said to him, 'Why don't you go up the river and see how these people are ending up in the water in the first place?'"

Mr. Huskinson chairs the City of Kawartha Lakes Poverty Coalition, which is made up of representatives from various community service groups.

"The biggest problem is politicians," he said. "Politicians at every level of government, including this one [at the City] have a significant apathy on issues surrounding poverty."

Mr. Huskinson is no stranger to hardship and desperate times, having seen them firsthand as a child of the Great Depression.

"I still carry memories of the Depression with me," he said, "even though there were good things that came out of it."

The Coalition is made up of representatives from community service organizations (such as the United Way) and health and employment professionals, including the City's social services department.

Its mandate is twofold - to raise awareness of poverty issues and to take action to alleviate them.

"I think there is still a stigma attached to being poor," Mr. Huskinson said.
"Most people are not in any kind of relationship with a person who is disabled or impoverished. There is still the idea that if you are poor, then you must be lazy."
"But, it's not easy to get good jobs here. A lot of people are working low-paying jobs and they are beaten right down. They can't get ahead. Poverty is a state in which people don't have the means for a quality life."

Mr. Huskinson pointed out that while housing developments continue to sprout up around the city, it is "filling a demand" for an income level that can afford such homes.

But, such development, he said, is not addressing the lack of affordable housing for a growing number of people who need just that. Because they can't afford a decent place to live, many are forced to live in squalor and sometimes pay exorbitant rents for the 'privilege.'

"I blame a lot on landlords," he said. "There are a lot of people who are making big money [as landlords] and we still have these appalling pockets of slums. It contributes to the cycle of poverty. Sometimes I wonder if we have an 'underground' lobby of landlords who don't want to see anything done."

A retired firefighter with 30 years' service, he told a horrific story of a fire in Lindsay.

"It was about 25 years ago. We had a double house fire on Glenelg Street. Back then, we didn't have student residences like we do now, and students would live in the older houses. When we got there, the houses were fully involved. In one of them, there were four or five students on the second floor."

"But, there were also four kids who were living in the attic."
"Those four kids died that night. I will never forget that fire, and hearing the cries of those kids. They were crying out, 'please help me; please help me.'"

The horror of that night stayed with him, he says, and he remembers it now, when he sees areas of the city that are slowly decaying.
Mr. Huskinson said the attics of older homes are often still rented out. "You see a light in the window, so you know." And, he's glad the Ontario Fire Code has now forced landlords to make older buildings fire safe.

Many of these same houses are now the addresses of the poor, he added.
Mr. Huskinson said he firmly believes politicians need to get more involved in the fight against poverty, and he would like nothing better than to meet with landlords.
"I think it would be terrific to sit down with them and see what solutions they could offer," he said. The Coalition also plans to meet with Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MP Barry Devolin and MPP Laurie Scott in the near future.

Mr. Huskinson said an estimated 40 per cent of families who use area food banks have children who are affected by poverty. And, the Toronto Star reported last week that a study conducted by the health department in 2000 showed 60 per cent of children aged one to six years lived with a single parent, low-income home.

"Poverty is growing everywhere, not just here," Mr. Huskinson said, adding the inability to 'get ahead' in life; the constant struggle, slowly destroys incentive and hope. He said he believes an estimated 1,000 families in the city have "no earned income."

And, although they may be on social services, he points out that is not "getting ahead."

Penny Barton Dyke, executive director of the United Way City of Kawartha Lakes, says the organization funds 14 non-member agencies and she agrees that poverty is a growing problem in the community.

At a national conference last year, she learned poverty is among "the top three issues in every province, number one in some."

"We (at the United Way in the city) have taken a leap of faith in that we are sitting down at the table with some of the organizations dealing with poverty, to get a feel for what they're really faced with," she said. "It's not just about doing fundraisers."

Ms Barton Dyke said affordable housing is a premier issue for people, and that job losses such as those at Fleetwood Canada and, more recently Promens Inc. means the numbers of "working poor" are increasing.

"Families who were struggling before will be worse in the next three to six months, especially if these people don't find other jobs," she said.
She said she recalls when there were six to eight food banks started in the city, and now, there are "many more."

"The numbers of people using the food banks have gone up, because people are hungry. And, they are hungry because they don't have enough money...more and more people are struggling to pay their bills and feed and clothe their families."

She agreed with Mr. Huskinson, who she described as "a champion" of poverty issues, that decent, affordable housing should be a priority for the city. She described a place one agency found for a young mother and her children to live.

"But, it turned out the toilet wasn't working properly. The feces were actually coming out of the toilet and running down a wall into the room where the children were playing.

"There are places here...where the conditions are deplorable," she said.
"Poverty is a long, systemic problem. You can't just keep band-aiding it. We need to get community groups and politicians on board so they can help get to the root causes of it. Thank goodness the utility companies, for example, have the Winter Warmth program, which the United Way also supports. It saved 100 people from losing their homes last year by helping them pay their heating costs."

Ms Barton Dyke said many people are just a step away from poverty, because they can't manage to save for an emergency.
"A major car repair, or a fridge breaks down, and it's disastrous for them," she said.

Ms Barton Dyke said a recent national study showed one in six Canadian children live in poverty.
"One in six children? Canada is considered a rich country. We're not doing something right."

This year's campaign, she added is at about 40 per cent of its target of $365,000. "We have a long way to go. But, poverty is an example of why it's so important for us to reach that goal. Single parents, seniors losing their homes, people with special needs; seeing it firsthand left us stunned."

The Poverty Coalition will hold its next meeting in January.
Mr. Huskinson said he welcomes any landlords who would like to discuss affordable housing concerns to contact him at 324-4432.