Bruce Grey Poverty Task Force Poverty Task Force

Poverty Task Force/United Way Community Update # 60

Dear Colleagues, 

As anticipated, the government has announced another 2 weeks of lockdown until June 2nd. 

As the pandemic continues, we are seeing rising housing costs as a gap in our social safety net. A strong argument is being made that increasing support directed at housing costs would go a long way to close a critical gap.

When it comes to jobs, debt and housing, Canada’s economic trajectory has split into two, data shows. It’s what economists refer to as a “K-shaped” recovery. The rich are getting richer, the poor getting poorer. There is a risk that the longer the economic recovery takes more people will fall off the upper arm of the “K”.  

And the majority of those would probably be women, who are both more likely to work in pandemic-sensitive jobs and more likely to have to stop or scale back working if schools remain closed. 

HOUSING SUPPORTS  

  • The Ontario government is supporting the creation of a First Nations Economic Growth and Prosperity Table (Prosperity Table) to help support economic advancement and well-being of Indigenous communities.
  • Giiwe Circles:  the video of the Rural Communities Ending Poverty workshop at the End of Poverty Summit (Tamarack) at 19:23 mins features Diane Giroux and Carlos Sanchez-Pimienta.  
  • Emergency Shelter: since Jan 2021, YMCA housing has provided 3,279 nights of shelter for 474 people. The program is funded by Grey County and Bruce County. Grey County has seen a 500% cost increase for emergency housing under the pandemic. 
  • Bruce County Home Repair Program is taking applications now. If you have a home valued at $340,000.00 or less and your income is $75,000.00 per year or less, you can apply for a forgivable loan up to $15,000.00.
  • Grey County Ontario Renovates: house limits at $250,000 (they use MPAC for house values which tend to be lower) and income of $60,000 (slightly flexible). 
  • Saugeen Shores Attainable Housing: a new townhouse development in Port Elgin will include 22 secondary units. The Council bylaw has approved the project to encourage more affordable housing. 
  • Reaching Home Funding contribution-type funding is available under the Community Capacity and Innovation (CCI) component. This is a funding component of Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy .Organizations can request a contribution of $ 100,000 to $ 600,000 over 3 years. The deadline is June 11, 2021. 
  • Grey County  Housing and Homelessness Plan Update 2021: was presented to Grey County Council today.  
    • Rising market rents and a low vacancy rate have made finding affordable housing difficult for those in low income brackets. 
    • According to Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the average market rent in Grey County for a one bedroom is $817 a month. Across Grey County a one-bedroom ranges from $800-$1250 a month, often without the inclusion of utilities. 
    • There are 620 Grey County residents on the Grey County Housing Waitlist, 74 with no current address, 27 Bruce County residents and 192 residents from outside Grey County for a total of 913 applicants.
    • In 2020, the Affordable Housing Task Force was created and an Action Plan for creating affordable housing units was developed. 

FOOD SUPPORTS

  • Grey Bruce Community Food Program list has been updated for May 2021. 
  • Food Safety webinar: Second Harvest is offering a free webinar on food safety in the non-profit sector on June 2, 2021 at 1:30 pm.  Register here. 
  • Foodthoughts.ca continues to profile community food programs, provide best practices and tools for community food programs. 
  • Keeping Not-For-Profits Connected During COVID19: Salvation Army Owen Sound and OSHaRE continue to offer surplus food to Grey Bruce food banks and community meal programs. This is food obtained through FeedOntario, Canada Food Banks, Foodrescue or other bulk donations. 
  • Feeding Families, Restaurant Relief continues to expand. This is a win/win for restaurants and our community! Please spread the word. Businesses and restaurants can find more info and forms here to sign up for the program.

TRANSPORTATION SUPPORTS

  • Bruce County Master Transportation Plan Study:  Bruce County is undertaking a Master Transportation Plan (MTP) Study to create a safe and reliable transportation system. The 2nd online presentation and survey can be found at www.brucecounty.on.ca/mtp until May 21, 2021.
  • Greyhound Buses: it was announced today that the bus line will stop operating in Canada.  

HEALTH EQUITY 

  • Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program: the government announced new eligibility thresholds for the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program and the Seniors Co-Payment Program to allow more seniors to have access to dental care and affordable prescription medications. 
  • Starting August 1st, 2021, eligibility thresholds for both programs will be updated to reflect cost of living increases in Ontario and align with income support programs for seniors. 
  • Income thresholds will be updated for single Ontarians aged 65 and over, from $19,300 to $22,200, and for couples with a combined annual income, from $32,300 to $37,100. 
  • National Dental Program: doctors are calling for a national program that would meet the gaps in existing services. 
    • 1 in 5 Canadians don’t go to the dentist because of the cost. 
    • 1/3 of Canadians do not have dental insurance to cover part of the cost.  (Statistics Canada)  
  • Last week, during a federal debate over an NDP motion for a national dental-care program, there was support to carry out a parliamentary study to fully understand the data on unmet dental care needs at a national level.

Stay well, Jill 

Bruce Grey Poverty Task Force Poverty Task Force

Poverty Task Force/United Way Community Update # 59

Dear Colleagues, 

Today many of us have joined the Tamarack Institute’s End of Poverty AGM. Over 70 communities across Canada have come together (700 adults/92 people with lived experience and 350 youth). The conference is using an interactive Howspace digital platform. Check it out! It is very dynamic. 

  • Tamarack officially launched their new name – shifting from “Cities Reducing Poverty” to “Communities Ending Poverty”.  This recognizes the work being down in rural communities as well as cities. 
  • Mayor Naheed Nenshi, City of Calgary was the keynote speaker. He leads Calgary’s Enough for All poverty reduction strategy and roundtable. Their motto is “My neighbours’ strength is my strength. My neighbours’ success is my success. My neighbours’ failure is my failure.”  Mayor Nenshi spoke to the fact that we are “all in the same storm, but we are not all in the same boat”.
    • Women, people living in racialized communities and in poverty are hardest hit by COVID. 
    • People living in poverty are at higher risk to COVID. 
    • The pandemic has widened the income gap.  
  • People with Lived Experience Perspective: a video was featured which included members of our Community Voices. 
  • Rural Communities reducing poverty workshop: our Indigenous-led Giiwe Circles team of Diane Giroux, M’Wikwedong IFC and Carlos Sanchez-Pimienta, Queen’s University gave a powerful presentation on its trasformative model.
    • Giiwe gave a strong message that we need to invest more in relationships and building trust if we are to address reconciliation issues, and Indigenous homelessness.  
    • Giiwe creates a safe space to discuss very uncomfortable and sometimes “messy and slow” issues.  But if we stay with those feelings we can transform how we work and be more successful in the work we do; and more importantly in improving Indigenous peoples’ lives. 

Yesterday, we took time to recognize Missing and Murdered Indigneous Women and join the Calls for Justice.  

  • Human rights and Indigenous rights abuses and violations condoned by the  Canadian government have resulted in the denial of safety, security and human dignity. They are the root causes of the violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA. 
  • The Calls for Justice come from the National Enquiry –  Reclaiming Power and Place and call upon all Canadians and sectors to end systemic violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA. 

 FOOD SECURITY

  • Food Secure Canada has released its comments on the Federal Budget 2021. 
  • Meals2Motels: is a partnership to provide meals (hot and frozen) to individuals and families sheltering in motels (Owen Sound and Chatsworth). 
    • 92,840 meals have been delivered in the last year.
    • January 2021 was the busiest month with over 1,200 meals delivered. February was the largest single week with 370 meals delivered.  
    • 252 hampers with multi-purpose kettles were created and all but 39 pre-positioned/distributed at motels. 
    • On Fridays the people receive Friday’s supper (hot), Saturday lunch supper (cold) Sunday lunch and supper (frozen). 
    • On Mondays United Way staff make an extra run with a Monday lunch.
  • Many partners deliver this program – the YMCA Housing, M’Wikwedong and the Women’s Centre shelter people in motels and maintain a daily number. OSHaRE cooks and assembles meals, along with frozen meals prepared by the St Aiden’s Frozen Meal program. Habitat for Humanity (Apr to Nov 2020) and the United Way (Nov to now) deliver the food daily. 
  • Grey County funds the daily mileage cost and staffing costs have been covered by the partner organizations. 
  • For more information on this initiative: United Way of Bruce Grey 519-376-1560, Y-Housing Joan Chamney, 519-371-9230, OSHaRE Colleen Trask- Seaman, 519-376-3899. 
  • Good Food Box:  Hanover Good Food Box started up at John Diefenbaker Secondary School led by Dawn MacKay (dawn_mackay@bwdsb.on.ca). With the school closed they are working in partnership with the Salvation Army Hanover to provide a location. (see attached poster).    
  • The Sponsored Box program is underway. Agencies and community donations can pre-pay for boxes. When sponsored boxes are purchased, tokens are distributed. Tokens may be used by customers at any GFB location but they must submit their tokens in advance of pickup.  
  • Agencies interested in purchasing tokens or receiving community donations for their clients may contact gbgoodfoodbox@gmail.com. 
  • Donations to purchase Good Food Box tokens for households in need can be made through OSHaRE (gbgoodfoodbox@gmail.com). A $200 donation will provide a household with a monthly Good Food Box for 1 year. 

HEALTH EQUITY 

  • Frontline organizations in Ontario will soon have access to free, rapid, self-administered COVID-19 screening tests through a new program called Stop the Spread and Stay Safe. The program, run by the Canadian Red Cross in partnership with the Government of Canada, is now accepting pre-registration from organizations in Ontario. 
  • To qualify, organizations must be a charity or non-profit, or an Indigenous community organizations with five (5) personnel (staff and volunteers) who work in close proximity to each other or have direct contact with community members.

YOUTH AND MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORTS

  • Sick Kids-led study (Feb 2021) found more than 70% of children aged 2 to 18 years expressed feeling lonely, overwhelmed, sleepless, worried, sad, irritable, anxious or stressed during the first wave, with isolation posing a significant risk factor.
  • Education Minister Stephen Lecce is set to announce an $80 million fund for school boards to hire up to 1,000 additional mental health workers for the next two years. 
  • Tamarack has been supporting youth outcomes through its Youth Futures Initiative.  Tamarack Institute and the Government of Canada, through the Goal Getters program, have committed to a 5-year pan-Canadian project to develop collective impact and system-wide solutions for youth as they build and act upon plans for their future   

Stay well, Jill 

Bruce Grey Poverty Task Force Housing Action Group, Partner Activities, Research

Giiwe: Reducing Indigenous Homelessness

Members of the Poverty Task Force’s Community Voices and Housing Action Group partners participated in a Giiwe Circle with author Jesse Thistle.  Jesse presented his work on the development of a Indigenous Definition of Homelessness with The Homeless Hub. Jesse also shared his personal story, his new book From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way. and joined us in our Giiwe Circle.  Jesse Thistle – who has traveled all across Canada – commented that Giiwe was a unique project and its Circles a unique experience that he had not seen in any other communities across Canada.

Giiwe is an exciting Indigenous led, inter-agency collaboration brought to us by the staff at M’Wikwedong Indigenous Friendship Centre. The project aims at reducing off-reserve Indigenous homelessness. Giiwe is centred on fostering a coordinated housing-related response to Indigenous specific housing needs and preferences in Grey Bruce.

Giiwe has successfully established and sustained an Indigenous led, inter-agency collaboration with 11 organizations while strengthening relationships and promoting trust between Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners. It has also facilitated a referral process and established inter-agency agreements to better serve Indigenous peoples living off-reserve. A recent Evaluation Report highlights the work being done.

Giiwe Circles incorporate cultural safety training, collaborative case management and relationship building to increase Indigenous leadership with improved collaboration and understanding of Indigenous practices, which ultimately lead to the prevention of Indigenous homelessness.