Council here has agreed to contribute $300 toward the cost of transportation to help local residents attend an event to increase awareness of and access to social services in Wellington County.
Mapleton council received the request for funding from event organizer Mary Crome, a Wilfrid Laurier University social work student interning at the Legal Clinic Guelph-Wellington, at the Jan. 22 meeting.
“Because I know well the nature of poverty in Wellington County and how, in many cases, poverty and homelessness can seem invisible in the county, I am putting together an event specifically designed to answer some of the challenges faced by rural residents of Wellington County who are living with poverty,” Crome stated in a letter to council.
The event, called Wellington County Community Connect (WCCC), will be held on March 22 at the Arthur arena, a venue chosen for it’s central location within the county, from 10am to 6pm.
Crome explained WCCC will be a public open house/trade show highlighting social resources.
The event is designed to give people who are living on less in the county access to a wide range of support services under one roof. Such services include housing, income, employment and parenting support, as well as counselling services. The event will also feature free massage, haircuts, manicures, food, hygiene and clothing giveaways.
“The focus will be on service delivery as much as is possible, so that guests may leave with a task completed and arms full,” explained Crome.
She said the event will provide an opportunity for involvement by numerous sectors of the community.
“Guests will have access to the services needed in a format that allows for one-stop shopping. Service providers will have a much-needed opportunity to network, while performing outreach. Community members will have an opportunity to volunteer. Businesses will have an opportunity to give back to and invest in the community. The faith communities will have an opportunity to operate in the community by partnering with WCCC.”
Crome noted that needs assessments have highlighted transportation as a barrier in Wellington County, so a “collaborative transportation plan” including a partnership with local school bus companies has been arranged.
“I want residents of Mapleton to have access to this event,” she stated, noting the Town of Minto has already agreed to donate $300 toward the cost of bus transportation. Wellington North has donated the use of the venue, valued at $631.
Crome said the target audience for the event includes families and individuals living on low incomes and “the working poor” as well as the homeless and those at risk of homelessness.
In her letter, Crome points out a rural homelessness study prepared for Wellington County in September, 2011 indicates the problem in rural areas is “largely concealed and hidden.”
That report notes poverty is the main trigger for homelessness and identifies several factors of poverty that are unique to rural areas. These include:
– a lack of infrastructure (no emergency shelter);
– lack of essential services and location of such services in large urban centres;
– travel difficulties;
– limited affordable housing;
– lack of appropriate social housing and;
– shortage of well-paying jobs.
“Overall, it appears that homelessness is a challenge, but not a priority issue in the community. More concerning is that the triggers that lead to homelessness – poverty, substance abuse, lack of well-paying jobs, lack of affordable/suitable rental housing – are on the rise,” the county study concluded.
