Hooo-eeee! Any of you guys picked up a newspaper today?
• Canada’s jobless rate is up to 6.6% - a loss of 34,400 jobs in December alone!
• US experiences worst “job year” since 1945 (unemployment rate: 7.2%) – a loss of 524,000 in December alone (1.9 million in the last 4 months of 08).
Take another look at yesterday’s post: Poverty solutions. In that 3rd paragraph, I dared suggest how close we all were to living in poverty. I think you might agree – the numbers that came out this morning just reinforced that reality.
Since the millennium, world-wide groups have banded together begging governments to invest in ending poverty. We’ve seen some changes, but not very many. In fact, my hometown, Toronto, or rather its region, the GTA, has officially been dubbed: Ontario’s Child Poverty Capital. Now that is a legacy to behold! Take a look at a recent report released by the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto: Greater Trouble in the Greater GTA.
One of the numbers that blows me away in this report (and many of its facts are just shameful) is that a single parent with 2 children who makes less than $23,380 a year is considered to be living in poverty. Um… Is anyone reading this familiar with the cost of living in the GTA? That amount of money wouldn’t sustain a single parent of 2 cats! Absolutely sick. Whoever chose that number to be the one we should go with might want to attempt living on that income him/herself. What about the person making $25,000 or even $30,000 for that matter?
In every report, on every Website and in every article – when poverty is referred to, one of the recommendations is to invest in education – education for children, and for their parents. We know that jobs requiring a higher education tend to pay more, hence lifting the “owner of that job” out of the risk of poverty. What we should also consider is that someone who has broad education may be more versatile in times like the ones we are experiencing these days.
OK – so, we can’t change the recession. (Where is “I dream of Genie” when you need her. C’mon, just blink your eyes once!) But what if we said: Now is the time to invest in education. Now is the time to lift people out of their poverty. Now is the time to give people hope for a brighter future. Now is the time, and education is the way!
We have to make a change!
____
Take a look at Marty’s comment in the previous post… There’s a lot of truth there: enjoy those institutions of arts and culture; we can learn a lot. Many, in fact, give back to the community and support the causes we refer to in this blog.
Housepaint, for example, is an exhibit currently on at the ROM (click on Exhibitions & Galleries). Housepaint brings together exceptional “street artists” to showcase and commemorate homelessness and represents it through graffiti, or street art. An “out of the box” exhibit for the ROM, to be sure, but one that is so important and draws together the value of arts to the cause of poverty.
What I’d like to add to Marty’s comment is that the learning doesn’t only come from “arts and culture”. It comes from people’s talents and passions. Everyone has talent and passion: for some it’s the arts, for some sports, for some it could be cooking. The point is, we need to encourage people who are living in poverty – heck, we need to encourage each other – to find those niches of passion and lose themselves in the learning and the hope that comes from it.
Learning expands our ability to hope; hope gives us direction; direction gives us purpose; and purpose can pull us out of our darkest hours…
• Canada’s jobless rate is up to 6.6% - a loss of 34,400 jobs in December alone!
• US experiences worst “job year” since 1945 (unemployment rate: 7.2%) – a loss of 524,000 in December alone (1.9 million in the last 4 months of 08).
Take another look at yesterday’s post: Poverty solutions. In that 3rd paragraph, I dared suggest how close we all were to living in poverty. I think you might agree – the numbers that came out this morning just reinforced that reality.
Since the millennium, world-wide groups have banded together begging governments to invest in ending poverty. We’ve seen some changes, but not very many. In fact, my hometown, Toronto, or rather its region, the GTA, has officially been dubbed: Ontario’s Child Poverty Capital. Now that is a legacy to behold! Take a look at a recent report released by the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto: Greater Trouble in the Greater GTA.
One of the numbers that blows me away in this report (and many of its facts are just shameful) is that a single parent with 2 children who makes less than $23,380 a year is considered to be living in poverty. Um… Is anyone reading this familiar with the cost of living in the GTA? That amount of money wouldn’t sustain a single parent of 2 cats! Absolutely sick. Whoever chose that number to be the one we should go with might want to attempt living on that income him/herself. What about the person making $25,000 or even $30,000 for that matter?
In every report, on every Website and in every article – when poverty is referred to, one of the recommendations is to invest in education – education for children, and for their parents. We know that jobs requiring a higher education tend to pay more, hence lifting the “owner of that job” out of the risk of poverty. What we should also consider is that someone who has broad education may be more versatile in times like the ones we are experiencing these days.
OK – so, we can’t change the recession. (Where is “I dream of Genie” when you need her. C’mon, just blink your eyes once!) But what if we said: Now is the time to invest in education. Now is the time to lift people out of their poverty. Now is the time to give people hope for a brighter future. Now is the time, and education is the way!
We have to make a change!
____
Take a look at Marty’s comment in the previous post… There’s a lot of truth there: enjoy those institutions of arts and culture; we can learn a lot. Many, in fact, give back to the community and support the causes we refer to in this blog.
Housepaint, for example, is an exhibit currently on at the ROM (click on Exhibitions & Galleries). Housepaint brings together exceptional “street artists” to showcase and commemorate homelessness and represents it through graffiti, or street art. An “out of the box” exhibit for the ROM, to be sure, but one that is so important and draws together the value of arts to the cause of poverty.
What I’d like to add to Marty’s comment is that the learning doesn’t only come from “arts and culture”. It comes from people’s talents and passions. Everyone has talent and passion: for some it’s the arts, for some sports, for some it could be cooking. The point is, we need to encourage people who are living in poverty – heck, we need to encourage each other – to find those niches of passion and lose themselves in the learning and the hope that comes from it.
Learning expands our ability to hope; hope gives us direction; direction gives us purpose; and purpose can pull us out of our darkest hours…
Sometimes hope is in the journey;
The destination never comes.
It’s not about left or right;
It’s not about right or wrong.
Sometimes hope is in the movement;
The destination doesn’t matter.
It’s not about where you land;
It’s that you bothered.
Sometimes hope is all we have;
The destination is a dream.
It’s about when you’re awake,
And a safe place for you to sleep.
Sometimes hope is the answer;
The destination is the guide.
It’s about making the right choice;
It’s about taking the ride.
Sometimes hope…
- Judi Samuels
January 9, 2009
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