CENTRE WELLINGTON – Husband and wife team Dr. Peter McPhedran and Susan McPhedran have started a Health Equity Impact Fund with the Centre Wellington Community Foundation and they hope others with the means will consider donating as well.
The couple has donated $25,000 to the fund and hopes it will grow enough to start some programs to benefit individuals and the community.
Peter McPhedran, now retired, has been active with the foundation and is chair of its social determinates of health working group.
It’s been through that work, and his own observations as a doctor, that he saw people with low incomes often can’t afford what it takes to address their health concerns.
“During my career I’ve certainly seen inequities in people’s situations in life,” he said in an interview.
“I feel a community is only as strong as its weakest link. I hope this can make those links stronger.”
McPhedran said the committee is currently focusing on food insecurity and will soon meet with partner agencies to take both a broad and focussed look at what’s happening in Centre Wellington.
He said there are some 4,500 people in the township who have trouble covering the grocery bill, yet only 25 per cent of those make use of the food bank or school food programs.
“The other 75% are not and it’s a challenge to identify who they are and how they might be helped,” McPhedran said.
A healthy diet not only leads to better health, it can also help avoid disease.
“I saw adults who could not control their diabetes due to improper nutrition. Patients with heart failure had repeated hospitalizations because of too much salt in their diets,” he said.
“It’s a puzzle with many pieces but a project that’s important to be done.”
McPhedran said these issues have been around since he came to the area in 1984 but in today’s world – post pandemic and amid soaring inflation – “it’s become much more.
“People who were on the fence before are having difficulty now.”
It is known that one’s health is more influenced by living conditions than by medical treatment or lifestyle choices. The working group hopes to tackle other issues like affordable housing and transportation, as well as food security.
Anyone wanting to donate to the fund can do so at https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/69605.
For more information, contact executive director Raymond Soucy at raymond@cscfoundation.ca or visit www.cwcfoundation.ca.
