I’ve never met anyone who likes filling out forms. I did meet a lawyer once who said she was really great at paperwork, but I don’t think that meant she liked it.
In our society, a lot of people who need to fill out paperwork might not have a lot of experience. Parents with low incomes, whether single or coupled, can be overwhelmed by the forms required to get subsidies for rent, daycare, education and extra-curricular activities.
When I had my daughter, knowing I would be a full-time single parent, I considered rental subsidies, and while I qualified for the program, I decided I didn’t want to go through the paperwork. When it came to the daycare subsidy, I did fill out the forms, out of necessity.
Single mothers living at the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul’s Rosalie’s Village in Saanich not only have access to affordable housing and affordable daycare onsite, they are getting help filling out all the forms while applying for subsidies for rent, daycare, schooling, work programs and sports grants for their children. The mothers can apply not only for a daycare subsidy from the government, but also an additional subsidy from the society.
A society staff member devotes most of their time to helping people with the forms and finding the required funding.
“The biggest challenge is bringing the community funding for the different programs and daycare,” said Angela Hudson, society executive director.
A couple of years ago, I was approached by the society through my employer. The society wanted to hire me as an Indigenous relations consultant for the Rosalie’s Village. M’akola was also the development consultant on the project and offers its clients help with First Nations engagement.
I travelled to eight First Nations with Hudson, and introduced the project to each nation.
As soon as I heard about this project, I was instantly passionate about it. When I became a mother at 27, this would have been a place I would have loved to live. The society is helping these families navigate the challenges of finding affordable housing and childcare.
While we drove nation to nation one afternoon, Hudson and I passed the several hours chatting and sharing stories of our experiences being single mothers to young children.
One difference we noticed was that when Hudson received a childcare subsidy for her children, who are now grown, 100 per cent of the fees were covered.
When I applied, a large portion was covered, but I was still responsible for paying the difference. For me, that was manageable, and I was grateful. For some parents, paying the difference is still a barrier. The additional funding support Saint Vincent de Paul offers removes that.
Living in the housing does involve a program agreement highlighting the goals each mother is working toward, which can span from enrolling in school to entering the workforce to advancing in an already established career.
When Hudson was a single mother, she had already been to college, but knew that to take care of her kids, she needed to upgrade.
“I was trained as a secretary, but realized I needed to go back to school,” said Hudson, explaining she secured funding to return to school and her daycare fees were covered. “It was the only way I could go to university.”
On Nov. 14, Saint Vincent de Paul won two Commercial Building Awards for Rosalie’s Village. The first was one of 10 excellence awards for the project design. The second was the Community Award and the society was being recognized for the impact of this project on the community.
“The Community Award really recognizes the achievements of the women at Rosalie’s Village,” said Hudson.
Rosalie’s Village has 42 units primarily for single mothers. There are three emergency-shelter units to help women and their children find a safe place. Families using these units stay for up to one month while permanent housing is secured.
One family was introduced to the housing project when they stayed in an emergency unit, then they transferred to a long-term home at the site. Now they’ve moved into the community while still using the daycare.
“Sometimes people just need a break in life, and we are trying to offer that,” Hudson said. “We want to link our families to all the supports in the community, so when they leave Rosalie’s Village they still have all their connections.”
Charla Huber works in communications and Indigenous relations for M’akola Group of Societies.
