A young woman told her story of abuse, drug addiction and homelessness at an anti-poverty rally at Sarnia City Hall over the noon hour Friday.
20-year-old Brooke Metcalfe was able to turn her life around with the help of local services but says the community needs more resources.
"I feel like there's a lot of stigma around the type of issues I've gone through," says Metcalfe. "Addictions, poverty, teen pregnancy. I left home at a young age. I've lived through homeless shelters. I've gone to the food bank. I've gone through those things and living in a community where our resources are so little, I feel like we need to be seen as a community where we need more."
Metcalfe says she graduated from a 30 day treatment program for youth in another community, and would like to see something similar established in Sarnia.
She says her life took a positive turn when she met her fiance.
"I met the love of my life, Zach. He helped me quit drugs and then I got pregnant with my son and I decided I don't want to go back to that life. That was my eye opener. I was in love with somebody. I had a baby on the way. I was 17 and still had a lot to offer the world."
Metcalfe says she ended up going back to high school where she graduated with honours, then graduated college on the dean's list and is now working as a personal support worker and looking to buy a home in the new year.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley echoed a call he made this past March that Lambton County would be an ideal location for an Ontario guaranteed basic income pilot project.
"We're not too big, we're not too small and we could see if this could work," says Bradley. "It's worked elsewhere. Where everyone has a fair opportunity in life. Every day when they open that door they're not worried about poverty. They're not worried about their education costs. They're not worried about addictions. That to me is extremely important and I'm hoping we will be chosen."
The idea of the pilot program is to replace various social and welfare payments with a tax credit similar to the guaranteed income supplement for seniors.
More information on the program is to be delivered to the provincial government this fall, including advice on potential criteria for selecting target populations and locations, delivery models and advice on how the province could evaluate results.
Another rally is planned Monday at Lambton College to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
