Title: Crescent Valley,New Brunswick is the second-largest housing development in Canada, over 65 percent of families are low income
Title: Half are single parents, Half didn’t graduate from high school
I’m Juanita Black. I work at the Human Development Council and I’m the coordinator of a community newspaper called Around the Block. It only features good news stories. No cops and robbers or fires or drugs—only good news stories.
I live in Crescent Valley, where we have 300 public housing units, three and four bedrooms. I’ve lived there since 1979.
There was a job opportunity for this community newspaper.
I worked as a volunteer in the very first issue . . . and there came an opportunity that they were going to hire a coordinator. Just that I was so nervous. But a day later they called and said you got the job. I thought many things. (laughs) I thought no, I'm not going to keep this job I'm going to go back on income assistance and I'm going to have my cheque and I'm going to have my health card.
But I had to bite the bullet. Here I was, 54, 55 years old, starting a new career.
So I did. I said this is enough. I accept the job and I weighed out, because my rent would go up, because I live in public housing and you pay thirty percent of your gross wages and not your net, so that's another thing that's a sticking point but I did it.
And I thought wow, I'm not on income assistance no more and what an accomplishment, but how scary! You know, like, you’ve got to manage now.
I think as a citizen that has lived in poverty and still is, you know, balancing that poverty line, it's important to get the citizens involved from day one. Right from the ground roots, so they all know how many people are involved from the community, from government, from business and they understand how hard it is to get from point A to point B. And that's how much we need that solid foundation.
Title: Poverty has many faces
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