www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, September 8, 2016 | 6 How community groups are helping break the cycle of poverty in Oakville and beyond by Julia Le Oakville Beaver Staff From crisis to success Spotlight "Connected to your Community" hen you're trying to raise a family, put food on the table each day and simply make ends meet, it can be overwhelming, especially when you're doing it all on your own. "One of the biggest challenges a single mother faces is getting the parenting down, that scheduling down," said Sharlene Gumbs, a senior program manager with Home Suite Hope (HSH), about the struggles of a low-income, single-parent family. Gumbs has been working one-on-one with single moms over the last ve years to improve their lives through HSH programs aimed at lifting low-income, single-parents out of poverty. Gumbs is currently working with 10 families and connects regularly with another 10 -- graduates of HSH's two-year ReStart program. "The work we do is to help these families work towards a place of more freedom, more choices, more opportunities," said Michelle Pommells, HSH president and CEO. HSH also provides long-term refuge (average stay of up to 24 months) for low-income, precariously-housed, single-parent families so the family has time to stabilize. Gumbs added staff helps families set, and achieve, goals, whether that's getting help for mental health or addiction issues or nancial or career aspirations. "A lot of it is just getting them into a pace where they can be productive," she said, noting it can be dif cult for single parents when they are responsible for another person with no one to help. Sometimes personal tragedies, such as sexual assault and other violence adds another layer of challenges, Gumbs said, noting she often calls upon other agencies for additional support. "So many times these families have dreams so far away they can't see any way to realize them," said Pommells. Although they may have talents, strengths and goals they want to reach, Pommells said they are often mired in bills and responsibilities while trying to put on a brave front for the sake of the children. ReStart Program participants come from all walks of life, said Gumbs. "ReStart is more tailored to the individual. That's what makes it really special," she said. "A person in ReStart can be in college, they could be in university, they could be someone immigrating here from Canada, who hasn't been able to get their credentials assessed, and we might be part of that process. It could be a mom returning to the workforce or even a mother regaining custody of her children." W Home Suite Hope Senior Project Manager Sharlene Gumbs helps a number of single-mother led families struggling to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. | Nikki Wesley/Metroland One in eight Halton families led by single parents One in eight families in Halton are led by single parents, according to HSH. Of that, women make up 22 per cent of lone-parent families living below the poverty line compared with seven per cent of men, Statistics Canada 2013 reveals. Pommells said HSH programs help single parents lay a foundation to enable improved outcomes and futures for their children. Children from low-income families tend to have their "horizons more restricted," she continued, noting HSH's programs level the playing eld by providing doorways and paths to realize talent and creativity. It calls this brand of support the "wrap around" social services needed to help break the cycle of poverty. Sara Cumming, a Sheridan College sociology professor, agrees that to lift low-income, single-parent families out of poverty, there needs to be a coordinated effort of social support services. Through extensive research on low-income, single-motherled families over the past 10 years, Cumming said she found women don't necessarily need a nancial assistance cheque from Ontario Works as much as they need a supportive network to bring them out of crisis. "The women who did the best in my study were women who were in shelters and the reason they did the best was because once you're admitted into a shelter, generally that shelter has all the links provided right to you," said Cumming of the 40 women she studied intensively over the course of ve years. "So subsidized housing, subsidized child care, legal aid, English-as-a-second-language, any kind of training courses, they could access right at the shelter." She noted that meeting people going through the same thing and talking with compassionate shelter staff and social workers helped put women on the right path towards self-suf ciency. Cumming thinks HSH's Homeward Bound Halton program will be successful in providing single mothers with a path towards successful careers and self-suf ciency. Now in its third year, the program, modelled after a successful Toronto program run by WoodGreen Community Services, provides homeless or struggling single mothers and their children with a furnished apartment for up to four years and free daycare while each mom gets a fully-funded college education, job internship opportunities and career placements. see Virtually on p.10 NEIL OLIVER VicePresident and Group Publisher KELLY MONTAGUE Regional General Manager Volume 54 | Number 72 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington (905) 845-3824 Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. 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