Rural Poverty and Affordable Housing

February 6th 2016

Yesterday, I participated in the second annual Share the Love campaign. Share the Love's goal is raising awareness about rural poverty and unsafe housing in the Leeds-Grenville area. I heard about them last year when my, Have You Hugged the Alien? book was published. I was going into schools to offer my workshops on healthy emotional expression. Share the Love organizers approached me and asked if I would facilitate some art with children and create an art display for their upcoming auction. Proceeds would go to Habitat for Humanity.

I went into my daughter's grade 3 class at Kemptville Public School and we had a discussion about poverty. I pointed out the many luxuries we take for granted like feeling warm as we enter our home, having a snack after school, being greeted by pets or playing with toys, having supper, taking a hot shower and sleeping in a warm bed, knowing we are safe. We compared that to the realities of families living at the edge of homelessness, barely making it on a monthly basis.

Each child chose one room in their home that they enjoy, the space that feels most like "home" to them. They were asked to re-create that space in a box, using play-doh, popsicle sticks, string, markers and a variety of other cheap materials. The boxes were displayed at Geronimo Coffeehouse with an index card attached to it, describing the student's vision for their box. The boxes were auctioned off and raised $500 for Habitat for Humanity. It was a wonderful experience,

This year, I visited Oxford-On-Rideau Public School and met with 44 students from grades 4, 5 and 6. This time, I could report on some of the changes that had happened since last year's campaign. A new Re-Store is set to open in Kemptville as the needs of our community have been recognized. A new program is also being discussed which would make it easier for low income families to become home-owners through "down-payment assistance", it would also provide "a flat rate Housing Allowance" so people can pay their rent and, thirdly, this program would offer financial assistance to low income families living in unsafe housing "to repair their home while improving the energy-efficiency of the unit". For more information about the Investment in Affordable Housing for Ontario program or to weigh in on these issues at one of the upcoming meetings, go to www.leedsgrenville.com/en/live/housing/affordablehousing.asp#

We talked about the fact that "1 out of 4 rural households are in the lowest income categories" in the Leeds/Grenville area. Then, I asked for the students' help. Their art could raise awareness about this issue by being displayed at Geronimo Coffeehouse for the month of February. Their art and efforts could also be shared at a meeting on February 22nd with homebuilders and politicians showing them the importance of creating more affordable homes. My directives were short: create something colourful that will catch the eye of the public and communicate a message about the need for safe, affordable housing in our area.

The room buzzed with excitement and feverish activity as students created their flag. There was such a variety from a slice of pizza, before and after images, us vs them imagery and beautiful outbursts of love. When students had completed their flags, I asked them to design their clothes pin. I was displaying the flags on a clothes line in the main hallway of the coffeehouse therefore we needed colourful, eye-catching clothes pins. When the students were done, they helped me gather my materials and got to work cleaning up the lunch room. It was pizza day and they scrubbed the tables clean. I was really impressed with these students. They were hard working and thorough.

I met with Heather Sansom at Geronimo and she helped me hang all of the art work. She even paid for my lunch (not a bad gig). The students had a blast, the teachers enjoyed witnessing the energy of their students creating for a good cause and, Heather and I were satisfied with the colourful art display that would surely get people talking about a very important issue.

Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org