The speaker at our March 28th meeting was Angie Brown. Angie has lived in Kemptville most of her life. She currently works for Victim Services (Leeds & Grenville) as a crisis response team leader and as a homeless outreach coordinator. At various times she has managed our local food bank, volunteered with the Fill-A-Bag food drive, kettles, been a coordinator of a teen moms program, coordinator of the community Christmas dinner, friendship lunch board and local volunteer.
In her presentation, Angie provided some insight into the hidden poverty in our community. We tend to think of homelessness and individuals sleeping on the streets which we really don't see here. What we don't see is the number of people "couch surfing", that is sleeping on a friend's couch for a couple of days or in their car if they can afford one. The lack of affordable housing in this area makes a difficult for people to get by. Without adequate housing, it is impossible for most to maintain any sort of employment, which also has an adverse effect on a person's mental health. This is just one example of the need.
Angie's presentation was an eye opener for many of us as to just how great the need in our community is.