Canada is one of the world’s wealthiest countries, yet one in five Canadians has skipped a meal either because they can’t afford food or so that their children can eat. And last year in Metro Vancouver, there were close to 700,000 visits to food banks. Hina was among those visitors. When basic needs, like feeding yourself and your children, are not met, as in Hina’s case, your health and that of your loved ones is at risk. Hina has always worked, starting at the Commodore Ballroom when she was 13 to help out her single mother. She had a nice apartment, nice furniture and two cars. She had three children with a man she met in elementary school. In 2006, he was killed in the Downtown Eastside. This led to Hina and her children living in a shelter for three months before finding housing. Then her youngest son got into a car accident and almost died. One short year later, he was stabbed and again nearly lost his life. “Right now, I’m not really able to leave [the apartment] to go anywhere because my son has anxiety and PTSD so I need to be with him 24/7,” Hina says. When she does get out, it is mostly to accompany her 17-year-old son to the many appointments he has on his road to recovery. Much of Hina’s food and emotional support comes from Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, a United Way partner agency generously supported by United Way donors. “I get my meat here at Frog Hollow, which is great,” Hina says. United Way supports food programs that not only help people like Hina get the food she needs but they also open doors and create opportunities for them to participate in other community programs and other social supports. “It’s my only real escape from my world. It really is,” says Hina. “When I’m an emotional wreck, I’ve come up here and Eva’s always given me a big hug and given me a bag of pasta.’ Eva is Frog Hollow’s Food Security and Community Outreach Coordinator. She says about 120 families a year are served through the United Way-funded food security program. “Maybe people don’t understand it but it just makes you feel really good when you don’t have anything and when you don’t have anybody. I think it’s something everybody needs,” says Hina. There’s still more to do. We need to raise $400,000 to help 3,800 people like Hina and their families get the food they need by offering them access food through community gardens, community kitchens and sharing of nutritious meals. Help move families from poverty to possibility. Please give generously.
Eva Aboud, Frog Hollow’s Food Security and Community Outreach Coordinator, with Hina.
