With the Kitimat Community Services Society’s presentation to councillors at the July 8 Committee of the Whole, they also included the results of a random survey of 25 users of the Food Share program.
The statistics show revealing information about how important the program is to certain people.
For instance in the past two years, eight of the 25 respondents said that they have moved twice, and six say they’ve moved once.
The inability to afford rent was the prime reason people had to move.
Most people who responded to the survey used social assistance as their income source (10), and eight people said Disability was their income source.
After paying for rent, 14 people said the money they’d have left would be between zero and $250 dollars. Only one person replied that they’d have more than $1,000.
Users of Food Share are predominately women, by a margin of over a double.
Most of the respondents were also unemployed, and just one-quarter were employed. Two respondents were retired.
Finally, the majority of the respondents filling out the survey were aged 51 to 60. The 41 to 50 demographic was the lowest represented in the survey.
Kitimat Council approved $50,000 to be given to the Food Share program to carry them into 2014, while work continues to help them find other sources of funding. The Food Share has no core funding to operate, and relies on money from the District to help pay for things such as their utilities and rent.