Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to quote a story from the YWCA’s most recent newsletter, which I will table later today. The title is “Living at Rockhill: It made a big difference being here.”
The article reads:
“My boyfriend and I were living at the Ptarmigan Apartments with our son. He’s now two and a half. Rent was $1,675 a month and we started getting behind. Only one of us was working because we couldn’t afford daycare at $800 per month plus rent.
I heard about the Transitional Housing Program and called. They gave us the opportunity of living in an emergency unit for three months so we could catch up on bills. That did the trick, and then we moved into a one-bedroom transitional unit. That was lucky because they don’t always have openings and you have to go somewhere else.
It’s made a big difference being here. It allowed me to have the programs offered here, it’s given us time to save up money because we’re going
to move south in a few months. Anything you need, anything you want to talk about, the staff is always there for us.
I learned how to cook, how to be a better parent, how to have more patience, how to take responsibility for money. I make a pretty mean meatloaf.
The staff work with you, how to budget, how to save money, show you crafts, cooking and computers. They’ll help with resumes and looking for jobs.
We’re starting over in Red Deer at the end of May. My boyfriend has some family there. We’re going to find jobs and stay with a friend there for a couple of days.
I am way less stressed now. I used to be pretty stressed out all the time about money and bills, making sure everything was paid and making sure there was food on the table. It’s hard if you are a young family.”
Mr. Speaker, I brought this up to illustrate two points. I want to recognize the work of the YWCA and other non-government organizations that are working so hard to help families like this one. They are doing excellent work, often with shoestring budgets, low salaries and no forced-growth funding.
Secondly, this story is a perfect example of what I was talking about yesterday and the day before as we were reviewing the Housing Corporation. Working people cannot make a decent living here and they are leaving. How would this story have been different if we had affordable daycare, or transitional housing actually transitioned into affordable housing?
I will have questions later today for the Minister. Mahsi.