Poverty reaching all sides of the city

Support services now widely available in schools

For much of Lethbridge’s history, the upper-income families lived on the south side of town — the others, on the north. Not anymore.

Today, impoverished families can be found in nearly all parts of the city, participants in a public forum learned recently. Children are sent to school hungry.

In response, student food programs and family support services are now offered in all elementary and middle schools in the city’s public system, says Tracey Erickson-Driscoll. Hungry students don’t learn.

As manager of the “Making Connections” program for Lethbridge School District 51, she outlined the program’s growth as local families’ needs increased. Speaking at a forum on poverty organized by McKillop United Church, she said the first meals were served to students at Galbraith Elementary.

“We thought that poverty was only on the north side,” but that was proven wrong. “Now we find it in all areas of the city.”

And while it started 20 years ago with breakfasts for food-deprived children, Making Connections now helps with clothing, school supplies, haircuts, access to recreation and much more.

Its “Ready, Set, Go” initiative helps children get ready for their new school year, both physically and emotionally, for example. Its “Triple P Parenting” programs help mothers and fathers develop parenting skills. And it offers professional development opportunities for school staff and community partners working with low-income families.

“Taber has replicated our program,” she reported, and Holy Spirit Regional Schools plan to launch one in the fall.

Making Connections is supported financially by Alberta Health Services, Alberta Human Services and the City’s Family and Community Support Services, she said. It works alongside Lethbridge service agencies including Family Centre and the city’s food banks.

Alberta mothers, meanwhile, are challenging their provincial politicians to take action against growing poverty. Lethbridge resident Sharon Prenevost said after repeated trips to the Alberta legislature, members of the United Church Women’s child poverty initiative are seeing some results.

The Alberta Child Benefit, its federal equivalent and Canada’s new Poverty Reduction Strategy will all help, she said. But the child poverty index in Lethbridge is still at 19 per cent.

Speaking for the Interfaith Food Bank, Rudeen Laing said while some families have been mired in poverty for several generations, others suddenly find themselves broke due to illness, the loss of a job or a general economic slowdown.

Nearly 4 million Canadians are considered to be living in poverty, she reported. Last year in Lethbridge, she said, more than 12,000 residents relied on Interfaith — one of several food agencies in the city.

The number of Lethbridge-area people seeking help has increased since the start of the year, Laing noted. As well as providing them with food and groceries, she explained, Interfaith also has garden and kitchen facilities to teach newcomers and others how they can grow and prepare nourishing vegetables on their own.

And through its “Project Protein” initiative, it works with local livestock producers to offer families some ground beef, utilizing animals that don’t meet market requirements due to age or size.

Canadians must come up with better responses to the challenges of poverty, other speakers warned. That’s because economists warn about 50 per cent of the nation’s manufacturing jobs will be lost to automation.

One solution, others suggested, could be a national “guaranteed annual income” program like those being planned in Europe. Closer to home, the Ontario government has also announced its intention to test that initiative in three yet-to-be-named communities throughout the province.