“I’m hoping and praying there’s an end to this.”
-Regina Younker
MONTAGUE, P.E.I. - When it comes to reducing poverty, Regina Younker would like to see a little less conversation and a little more action by government.
Younker, a committee member of the Poverty Reduction Advisory Council (P.R.A.C.), knows all too well what it means to live in poverty.
A single mother of three, Younker has been on social assistance for more than a decade because up until this week, there wasn’t any incentive to enter the job force.
“I was only supposed to be on this social assistance for six months,” she told The Guardian in response to a government announcement Thursday regarding changes to social assistance benefits. “It’s been 12 years because there was no incentive. Now there’s an incentive.”
In the evening following the announcement, P.R.A.C. held a community conversation on poverty reduction in Montague, where Younker was in attendance.
During the public event, Younker spoke to some of the residents who said affordable housing is the biggest barrier facing those who live in poverty, which also greatly affects the senior population.
There was also a healthy dose of skepticism from the crowd, something Younker said was founded, and that it’s time government takes action rather than merely pay lip service to an issue affecting thousands of Islanders.
The Cornwall resident said an analogy she learned in AA applies to this issue.
“You can be sitting in a car and turn it on, but unless you can steer the damn thing and take action, nothing moves,” she said. “(Don’t) just keep the conversation going, but let’s put action into the conversation.”
Related: Series of community conversations raise awareness of P.E.I. poverty issues
On Thursday Human and Family Services Minister Tina Mundy announced changes to social assistance that will help Islanders overcome barriers and become more self-reliant, which Younker said is a great start.
“I’m blown away, I’m totally emotional,” she said. “They have a really good insight as to what it’s been like, and things haven’t changed for years.”
While the changes won’t help Younker today as much as they could have when her now grown children were young, she said for those who need to use social assistance going forward, “it gives them a little leeway and gives them incentive to work”.
While the announcements are a step in the right direction, Younker said there’s still a lot of work to be done.
“We need to address poverty in general, like the working poor,” she said, adding that for her, poverty means not living in dignity and not having basic needs met.
There have been people on P.E.I. trying to reduce poverty for 30 years, but now because of a more collaborative approach between government, not-for-profits and community groups, good things are happening, and Younker said she is hopeful.
“All those announcements made today will help my grandchildren and break the cycle,” she said. “I’m hoping and praying there’s an end to this.”
