Poverty Awareness in York Region

Needy city families will share $900,000

The Poverty Project

Needy families across Hamilton are going to get some extra cash thanks in part to a community initiative to combat poverty.

The city announced yesterday it is going to disperse $900,000 to families receiving assistance from Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program.

The cash is coming from funding Hamilton receives from the Ontario government under the National Child Benefit Supplement. The money, which amounts to $2.5 million a year, is given to the city to invest in programs to reduce child poverty and promote employment for adults.

The money given out will assist close to 6,000 children. A family will receive $150 per child.

The action, being taken in conjunction with Wesley Urban Ministries, is partly a response to The Best Place to Raise a Child initiative launched during the summer by the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty.

The group is on a four-year mission to reduce poverty across Hamilton .

"Our vision is to make Hamilton the best place to raise a child," Jo-Anne Priel, general manager of Hamilton 's community services department, said in a statement.

"Getting this money directly into the hands of the families who need it the most enables them to better deal with day-to-day living expenses like food and transportation."

The city had been using the $900,000 to offset the cost of running 30 programs, such as the Utilities Arrears Program and the community health bus.

It is continuing to fund the programs with money from other sources, though the public health department tried to cancel the health bus to the impoverished Beasley neighbourhood.

Council reinstated the bus, which served 220 children and families, after public complaints.

Wesley Urban Ministries expects to have cheques mailed out to families next month. The city contacted eligible families in September, those with children under 18, and received 3,500 applications.

The Hamilton Spectator