Henry Wall, chief administrative officer for the Kenora District Services Board, said he’s noticed a shift in funding asks for organizations dealing with child poverty.
The Kenora District Services Board announced the selection last week of 13 child poverty reduction programs across the district to share $183,000 in funding this year.
“We have seen a shift in the last couple of years where it's now more focused on food security,” he said. “A number of years ago, the proposals that would come forward to KDSB were focused on making sport, arts and dance affordable or attainable for children.”
Wall said it is a concern that in a span of couple of years, “we've seen a big shift away… from affordable sport and other activities, but the big focus is making sure children have enough to eat.”
“I think that is something, as communities, we should not lose sight of,” he said. “And it's something that we really need to be paying attention to and finding out what is driving them.”
Wall said the cost of living increases across the board is impacting families, especially those on social assistance, as the rates themselves are not enough to keep families afloat.
He said since public transportation isn’t really an option in the region, the increase of gasoline prices, car insurance rates and housing has a big impact on families.
“You start adding those pieces up, there's just some things that are non-negotiable, like paying rent, like having gas for a vehicle and so forth,” he said. “What gives? Families don't enrol their children in sport, families don't enrol their children in arts programs, but also they decide what to eat and when to eat. [Families are] having to make some really difficult decisions.”
Barry Baltessen, board chair of the KDSB, said in a release the 2023 community partner applications "demonstrated the growing food insecurities faced by families and children and the increasing need for affordable recreation opportunities for families in the District.”
The program allowed targeted support for individual projects in communities from Ignace and Pickle Lake to Dryden and Kenora, Wall said.
He believes there needs to be a lot more funding for child poverty reduction programs, “but I think we're just grateful we're able to support the number of community programs that we are.”
“And I think too, it's providing us a really interesting snapshot or insight into how fast daily life is changing for families in our communities.”
