Bruce Grey Poverty Task Force Community Updates, Poverty Task Force

Poverty Task Force/United Way Community Update 212

Reconciliation begins with a commitment to truth-telling. However, the burden of truth telling should not be placed solely on the shoulders of survivors. Reconciliation requires institutions, governments and individuals to live up to their own responsibilities and complete/fulfill the TRC’s 94 Calls to Action.

The most recent Annual Report from the National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation reports that the voices of Residential School deniers are getting louder. The truth is that 699 Indian Day Schools were established and operated by the Canadian Government since the 1920’s, with an estimation of over 200,000 Indigenous children attending.

Seven of these schools were located in Bruce County – 4 in Nawash – Sydney Bay, Little Port Elgin, St. Mary’s Junior and St. Mary’s Senior School; and 3 in Saugeen – French Bay, Saugeen Village and Scotch Settlement.

We need to find more opportunities for truth telling.  Please read the full report here: 2024-NCTR-2023REPORT-LAYOUTS-FIN-WEB.pdf

FOOD INSECURITY

  • United Way, OSHaRE and Owen Sound The Salvation Army: have rung alarm bells saying that there will come a day when they won’t be able to keep up with the unsustainable rate of demand for free food. They are calling for income solutions such as the Guaranteed Basic Income.  Food banks and soup kitchens in Owen Sound struggle to meet growing demand | CTV NewsDemand for food charity skyrocketing
    • OSHaRE served 20,000 meals in September 2024; they provided 20,000 in all of 2020. 
    • OSHaRE served over 146,000 meals so far this year, the same as in all of last year. 
    • The Salvation Army Owen Sound is providing groceries to 1,300 clients/month, up 20% from last year alone.
    • The Salvation Army Owen Sound is providing over 30,000 lbs (13,610 kgs) of food to families each month. They have provided over $1.5 million of practical food assistance in one year to a community of 21,000 people. 
    • 125-130 families are attending the bi-weekly Family Assist Market.  
  • Food Affordability and Food Insecurity Report: was released by Grey Bruce Public Health and they are calling for income solutions to food insecurity.Food Affordability and Food Insecurity
    • Almost 1 in 5 Grey Bruce households struggle to purchase the food they need and are food insecure (18.3% averaged over 3 years). 
    • The report determined the cost of groceries for a family of four in Grey-Bruce in 2024 was $289 per week or $1,250 per month, representing a 1% increase from 2023. A single adult, meanwhile, must spend about $434 a month on food to meet Canada’s Food Guide recommendations, which is also a 1% increase from 2023. 
    • A full-time worker (40-hour week) earning minimum wage, which in Ontario is now $17.20 per hour, earns a gross monthly income of $2,752. 
    • Female-led single parent and lower income households are vulnerable to food insecurity. In 2022, 41.2% of households with children led by female lone parents were food-insecure.
    • In Meaford, a response to the report had Meaford Councillor Harley Greenfield state that municipalities are increasingly being drawn into these sorts of social issues, largely due to pressure from the public, but municipalities aren’t equipped to address social issues, as they have always been outside of the scope of a municipal council. The largest, and likely most important role that municipalities can take on in order to help to find solutions to the housing crisis, or the food insecurity crisis, or the opioid crisis, is that of an advocate by pressuring upper levels of government, who are supposed to oversee such issues, and who are equipped and funded for such problems. GBPH’s Report on Food Affordability Highlights What Many Already Know | The Meaford Independent
  • Parent Infant Feeding Support: a free virtual infant feeding support group starts up in Hanover (October 16th to December 4th) to support ALL families with food support.  They also offer free individual infant feeding support at the Family Health Team. 

HOUSING SECURITY

INCOME SECURITY

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Stay well, Jill

Bruce Grey Poverty Task Force Advocacy, Community Updates, Income Security

Poverty Task Force/United Way Community Update # 211

There has been a lot of work happening over the Summer of 2024. And while we may think that we are constantly “holding the line” or “trying to keep people from dying”, the work has not gone unnoticed. We want to recognize all our partners who are on the frontlines of saving lives, feeding the hungry and keeping people housed.

The deepening homelessness and opioid crisis has been on every agenda and will continue to be so as rates of poverty and homelessness increases. We need leadership from all sectors and all levels of government to work together with all social sectors to address the issues.

MUNICIPAL ENGAGEMENT 

INCOME SECURITY UPDATES

Four key takeaways:

  • Deep inadequacy: In 2023, welfare incomes remained deeply inadequate. 55 out of 56 (98%) of households were in poverty, with 40 of them (71%) living in deep poverty.
  • Federal contribution: Despite the need, the federal government’s support for households receiving social assistance remained minimal.
  • Cost-of-living impact: The expiration of temporary cost-of-living-related payments in 2023 negatively affected households.
  • Growing gap: Income support investments varied across jurisdictions. Some made improvements, while others lagged.

FOOD SECURITY UPDATES

  • Food insecurity continues to grow in our region. Since January 2020 to the end of August 2024, Grey Bruce community meal programs have reported over 800,000 meals were distributed. 115,000 meals were distributed in 2023.  All Dashboards | Food Bruce Grey
  • OSHaRE Community Meal Program:  17,000 meals were distributed in the month of July 2024 and 17,500 meals in August 2024 compared to 20,000 meals distributed over the whole year in 2020. In 2024, OSHaRE  shared 146,625 meals with the community. 
  • Family Assist Market (FAM): is held bi-weekly at OSHaRE/Owen Sound. It has grown from 4 families to 80 families since its startup in June 2024. The FAM provides access to community support services with multiple agencies as well as food hampers (Good Food Box/The Salvation Army) and large family size meals from OSHaRE. 
  • Grey Bruce Good Food Box: has released a new flyer for the Fall season. Hanover GFB has a new host organization at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church. Chatsworth GFB is amalgamating with Owen Sound GFB. Orders and pickup can be made through Owen Sound GFB at OSHARE. Good Food Box – United Way of Bruce Grey
  • Feed Ontario: has released 2024 Hunger Report saw a 25% increase in food bank visits over last year.   https://feedontario.ca/news/ontarians-are-drowning-amid-surging-affordability-crisis/  Feed Ontario has the latest food bank usage data for each municipality at: Hunger in my Riding – Feed Ontario
  • National School Food Policy: describes the long-term vision for school food programs in Canada, as well as the guiding principles and objectives that will help make this vision a reality. It lays the groundwork for a future where all children can have access to nutritious school meals.   Newfoundland and Labrador has become the first province in Canada to sign on to the federal government’s school food program.  4624-National_School_Food_Policy-E.pdf (canada.ca)

HOUSING SECURITY UPDATES

Thanks to Pam Hanington for pulling together these latest Housing Reports. 

Stay well, Jill

Bruce Grey Poverty Task Force Poverty Task Force

Poverty Task Force/United Way Community Update # 108

Dear Colleagues, 

This week COP27 Conference has started with strong language around climate change and our survival on this planet. The head of the United Nations declaring a lack of progress that has the world speeding down a “highway to climate hell” in a “cooperate or perish” situation. 

There’s an increasingly well-established link between climate and issues of poverty/equity. Governments must address this problem by enacting transformative policies that address the root causes of climate change and income insecurity.

  • Green Resilience Project: released a 2022 Canadian report Conversations on climate change, income security and community resilience  From these conversations, people in Canada, especially those experiencing income insecurity or other forms of financial instability, stated that they are increasingly exposed to climate impacts but are often unable to participate in climate solutions due to systemic barriers. The project team developed 4 recommendations:
    1. Incorporate basic income into Canada’s plan for a just transition.
    2. Design income security and climate policy solutions to focus on improving individual and collective quality of life.
    3. Empower people and communities with the tools and resources they need to build or strengthen resilience 
    4. Ensure that corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share
  • Recently the North Bruce Peninsula Climate Action Plan team evaluated the potential equity impacts of their Climate Action Plan in North Bruce Peninsula.
  • Tamarack Institute has formed a Community Climate Transitions network around the themes of resident-led and partnership-based approaches to climate transition, centering equity and justice in climate work. Organizations and individuals can join their network. 
  • Voices at COP27 include Canadian Indigenous Youth who are real superheroes. They have a place at the negotiation table with heads of governments and an opportunity to speak their demands.
  • Canada’s Changing Climate Report 2019 chapter about the Prairies notes that climate change may exacerbate social inequities, specifically identifying Indigenous people as one of the groups that may be more vulnerable. The Prairie section also says that Indigenous knowledge is of “tremendous value” for climate science and adaptation planning.
  • Other subsequent reports include Health in a Changing Climate 2022 with a chapter on Climate Change and Health Equity.
  • More Homes Built Faster Act, Bill 23: was introduced as part of the province’s plan to address the housing crisis by building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. Opposition to the Bill says it will greatly reduce environmental protection for wetlands, woodlands and other sensitive green spaces, and prohibit conservation authorities from protecting these areas. It is argued that what is needed to address the housing and climate change crisis is well-designed, low-cost family homes and climate friendly communities supported by transit.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

  • Grey Bruce Local Immigration Partnership: is seeking volunteers to take part in a study on experiences of discrimination in Grey and Bruce Counties. The results of this survey will aim to inform programs to help the community become more inclusive. Learn more and register at https://lnkd.in/gx4m5dqK
  • Food Secure Canada, the People’s Food Institute (PFI) and the Walmart Foundation have launched the Indigenous and Black Peoples’ Food Sovereignty Planning Initiative (IBPFS). This initiative hopes to contribute to shifting power dynamics and learning on how to address structural and systemic barriers that undermine and prevent Black and Indigenous communities from realizing improved health, well-being and food sovereignty. For more info: contact Afua Asantewaa, Project Lead, communitiesconvenor@foodsecurecanada.org

INCOME SUPPORT 

  • Living Wage Week: The United Way of Bruce Grey and the Ontario Living Wage Network will release the 2022 rate on November 14th. We shall be discussing the calculation at our next Poverty Task Force meeting on Friday, November 18th. 
  • Student Loan Interest: the federal government has announced it will extend its pandemic pause on federal student loan interest in an effort to reduce some of the current financial pressures on young Canadians as the cost of living rises. Interest rates will still apply on the provincial portion of a student’s loan.
  • Tax Increase Relief Program: Grey County passed a bylaw in May 2021 to provide relief from tax increases to relieve financial hardship for seniors with low-income and disabled people. Each municipality has forms to make applications. 

HOUSING AND FOOD SUPPORT 

  • Safe N Sound Winter Hours: will be extended until 10pm and be open on weekends thanks to funding from the City of Owen Sound and Grey County Housing effective November 20th. 
  • Grey Bruce Community Garden Network: Simona Freiburg presented a growing season year end report to members of the Food Security Action Group. Tremendous contributions of fresh produce were donated to community meal programs, food banks and the Meaford Community Fridge.
  • FoodBruceGrey.com continues to track the increase in numbers of people using community meal programs and food banks as well as foodrescue and community gardens contributions.

On this Remembrance Day, November 11th, 2022 we remember those who have fought for peace and the protection of our country.

Stay well, Jill

Bruce Grey Poverty Task Force Poverty Task Force

Poverty Task Force/United Way Community Update # 101

Election Education # 4

Dear Colleagues, 

Affordable housing is a key municipal election issue. The trend of urban out migration to rural Ontario has made the available housing stock in our communities much more expensive and harder to find. 

We have added the following reports from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) to BruceGreyVotes.com and other municipal resources: 

Seniors and Homelessness

  • Grey Bruce By-Name List: is delving into the plight of seniors who are homeless. At present, 42 seniors are on the list (age 62-84). Of those, 11 are deemed actively engaged. Most recently an 83 year old was housed by Bruce County Housing.   
  • Homeless Hub: according to a National Shelter study, over 8.3% of shelter users are 55 and over and tend to have longer shelter stays compared to younger adults.  According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, seniors will be the group that experiences the highest rate of mental illness in Canada by 2041.
  • Seniors experience homelessness for a variety of reasons, including the lack of income to pay for housing (low government assistance, insufficient pensions, low wages and/or savings), the shortage of affordable and secure housing, deteriorating physical and mental health, a relationship breakdown and/or suffering from violence and abuse. (Source: Homeless Hub)
  • The risk of homelessness for seniors can also be increased by the death of a spouse, social isolation, discrimination, or a lack of awareness of available benefits and services.(Source: Homeless Hub) 
  • Senior citizens are twice as likely to access a food bank long-term than those under 65. (Source: Feed Ontario)    

BruceGreyVotes.com In the News

How Do People Know about the Change in Voting method?  

This municipal election people will need to vote online or via phone. We included the links for each municipality’s voter information on our website. 

  • Voting Period is Oct 14th-24th. 
  • We know each municipality will mail out Voter Information Letters – most are scheduled to go out at the end of September or beginning of October. 
  • The Voter Information Letters will also contain the location and hours of Voter Help Centres or Desks that will be available during the voting period.
  • Municipalities are mandated to set up Voter Help Desks (in-person and by phone) to assist people to vote online or by phone. 
  • People can be directed to their municipality link on BruceGreyVotes.com, 

Basic Income Campaign 

CERB and other basic income-like emergency benefits contributed to the largest 1-year reduction in poverty in nearly 50 years. Meanwhile, poverty costs Canadian taxpayers over $80B/year. 

  • Recent surveys from the UK and Europe showed an increase in support for a universal basic income.  
  • Halifax Regional Council has voted to urge the federal government to move forward with a guaranteed livable basic income in this country.
  • We have updated our postcards to be more accessible for readers. Please find them attached. 

PTF Election Education Outreach

  • Getting the Word Out: we ask that our partner organizations spread the information of the content from BruceGreyVotes.com to the community they serve via newsletters, emails and phone calls/wellness checks, etc. and especially to those people who have challenges accessing online or phone voting systems. 
  • Tamarack Institute Roundtable on Getting Equity on the Political Agenda: will explore examples from across Canada on what local roundtables and equity-seeking groups are doing to get their voices heard and bring equity/social justice to the forefront as part of the democratic process. Register here for the Sept 28th online event. 

Stay well, Jill