Poverty hits home during awareness week

IMAGE. Supplied by the Salvation Army of Fort McMurray.

Starting Oct. 15, Wood Buffalo will recognize Poverty and Homelessness Awareness Week.

Mayor Don Scott issued the proclamation in the Oct. 8 council meeting.

Close to home

Five local social profit and poverty awareness groups arranged a special house tour in downtown Fort McMurray.

The “Poverty Isn’t Always Easy To See” open house gives residents an inside look at the reality many homes in the region face.

Also, the open house allows visitors to see the visible, and sometimes invisible effects poverty has on the region.

Currently, 20 per cent of households in Wood Buffalo lives in poverty.

This amounts to 4000 homes affecting nearly 20,000 residents.

Half of them are children, while 56 per cent of senior citizens lives in poverty.

Located at the corner of Fitzgerald Avenue and Bell Crescent, doors open at 13 Fitzgerald Ave. from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Oct. 15, 2019, and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 16, 2019.

Poverty and Homelessness Awareness Week runs from Oct. 15-22, 2019.