Autistic boy’s mom feels chill from bills, day care

The following is a first-person account by an individual who is helped by the Salvation Army food bank, the recipient of this year’s Be An Angel campaign. To donate, visit The Herald office, Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., at 101-186 Nanaimo Ave. W. or visit pentictonherald.ca.

We use the food bank because I am unable to work at the moment.

The reason why is that I have to care for my four-year-old autistic son, which involves taking him to and from various therapies during the week. Even if I wanted to work, I couldn’t, which has been very frustrating.

In order for my son to attend day care, he requires a support worker. There is a waiting list through supported child development in this town. They don’t have enough qualified support workers or funding to help every child who needs extra support.

The licensed day cares also all have wait lists. Being a single mom is tough because I have no family or friends here in town that are capable of looking after my son. We moved here a year and a half ago because we got into BC Housing. This has been a blessing for the low rent; however, the electricity and heat bills are enormous. Last January my bill was $350. (BC Housing has recognized this and they are putting in new windows to help this year.) The majority of my income goes to food and utilities. There is barely enough to scrape by.

When winter comes the added expenses of winter clothing and Christmas presents are stressful.

One thing I would love to educate the public about is that not everyone who uses the food bank is a drug addict or lazy person. There are people like myself with a college education that have just found themselves in difficult situations. Raising a child with special needs is tough. I only intend to use the food bank as a stepping stone.

I would encourage people if they want to donate to try to donate healthy foods. There are so many children that rely on the food bank and it's important for them to have healthy choices instead of junk food. Things like healthy cereal, peanut butter, pasta and sauces and canned fruit are great choices to donate for families.