Eighty per cent of Hamilton’s food bank users are spending more than half of their monthly income on rent, putting them at “extreme risk of homelessness.”
That is according to Hamilton Food Share as it joins the chorus of support for a $50-million Poverty Reduction Investment Plan that will be presented to city councillors on Wednesday.
Executive director Joanne Santucci says it “couldn’t be more timely” and the need in the community “couldn’t be more pressing.”
Santucci adds that the plan is a commitment to action based on “facts,” while stressing that “tweaks and adjustments” can be made as the initiative moves forward.
The confirmation that 80 per cent of the city’s food bank users are spending more than half of their monthly income on rent, in within Hamilton Food Share’s February statistics.
It’s a sharp increase when compared to the same period in 2016 when 49 per cent of food bank users reported spending 50 per cent of their monthly income on rent.
Santucci says it proves that more people face “the terrible choice between keeping a roof over their head or feeding the family.”
The poverty reduction plan, to be debated at city hall on Wednesday, was prepared with input from over 30 local organizations and recommends investing the $50 million over 10 years.
The strategy comes forward at a time when almost 6,000 families or individuals are on Hamilton’s wait list for affordable housing.
Hamilton Food Share is the umbrella organization for the city’s 11 food banks. It collects more than 2.5 million pounds of food each year.
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