HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2013-11-20, Page 1010 News Record • Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Gerard Creces Clinton News Record
For the birds
Grade 3/4 students at Clinton Public School are looking out for the winter wildlife
this year, with the installation of new birdfeeders in the quiet area of the playground.
Teacher Gina Wise is the eco -leader for the school, and said there have been a number
of different projects over the past few years, including flower and garden planting. The
students helped construct the birdfeeders, and were more than happy to brave the
first snow for a picture of their handiwork.
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Huron Against Poverty wants
public/private sectors engaged
Gerard Creces
Clinton News -Record
Huron Against Poverty, a group com-
mitted to developing a strategy to
reduce poverty in the county, is looking
to engage both the public and private
sectors in their efforts.
Made up of mainly social service
workers, the group met to discuss the
gaps they currently face in providing
services and think about who and how
to involve others.
However, in coming to that conclu-
sion, HAP also had to look at the gaps
and challenges that exist for people in
poverty.
For many, perception is huge.
Clients of food banks largely have no
power over what they can and can't eat.
If they decide to spend their food
money on unhealthy choices, they feel
judged. If they go to the food bank, they
face limited choices. A focus group of
current food bank users turned up
some surprising suggestions - includ-
ing the reintroduction of food stamps.
The thinking was if a person uses
stamps for food, there will be a better
perception of people on low income.
Choice over what food one eats is a
big part of dignity.
While there is a strong network of
front-line workers within the food bank
community, there is something of a dis-
connect with housing and other gov-
ernmental services.
For those on Ontario Works, the
amount of money required for rent is
often far more than the current allow-
ance. The Huron County Housing Cor-
poration does have money to help with
rent payments - with the former Path-
ways program still operating under a
different umbrella. Many of the food
bank providers were learning of this for
the first time at the Nov. 6 meeting -
highlighting the need for intercommu-
nication between services.
But, the interest still needs to be there
from building and property owners.
While there was about $1 million in
the HCHC budget for rent subsidy,
landlords have thus far not been
interested.
While there were some connections
made between housing and food bank
services at the latest session of Huron
Against Poverty, practice still needs to
be turned into policy on a greater level
- and policy makers need to under-
stand just how deep the effects of pov-
erty run on a personal, family and com-
munity level.
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