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rrvitjtci s v ivtv a stouflvsle suntribune iro dec 28 2007 1 1 regions social service infrastructure under pressure as area grows by chris traber staff writer rowth demands a tem porary surrender of security american writer and lecturer gail sheehy observed in york region many residents have already conceded permanent defeat one in 10 of our neighbours lives below the poverty line and many are without safe shelter an ironic anomaly considering the median family income of 75678 in york according to the 2001 census was second highest in the gta as our population edges to the one million mark and promises to balloon by 570000 within 25 years the regions social services infra structure will be tested to the limit even so surviving today not tomorrow is the ambition of too many residents experts said food bank usage will grow in proportion to population expan sion york region food network executive director joan stonehock- er said adding food bank visits have increased 25 per cent between 2001 and 2006 of the 46575 people fed through the networks eight food banks last year almost half were children ms stonehocker said if s frightening that we havent looked at human services in the same way weve worked on sewer systems six of 10 adult food bank cli ents are employed or live with an employed household member she said ontarios recent throne speech anticipated to offer solutions and schedules to our poverty prob lems did little to buoy the hopes of frontline social service workers ms stonehocker said theres nothing new at this 21vbfc bhoj02wike bvkkejj york region food network executive director joan stonehocker expects more people using her agency and she sees no end to the trend of children making up a large portion of that group the recent ontario throne speech expected to address poverty issues had little to address the needs of york regions hungry point she said hopefully there will be in the new year it seems inevitable the trend will continue and york will have more hungry and desperate people at least in the short term i cant see that the programs are in place that would- prevent that she said growth poses problematic ques tions especially for those without a place to live york region alliance to end homelessness public edu cation coordinator jane wedlock said theres a significant challenge around growth because we we need to answer the question how are we going to address the issue of afford- ability of housing she said the social services sector is stressed due to the lack of funding housing is expensive if something doesnt change yes itll become a bigger problem ms wedlocks research suggests population growth and yorks population grew by 224 per cent between 2001 and 2006 willcpn- tinue to stress communities such as newmarket vaughan richmond hill and markham she like most social service pro fessionals remains optimistic we have to be hopeful seek new opportunities new voices and creative solutions she said w re clear acne no drugs no topicals painless immediate noticeable results medispa clinic on main 6038 iviafri street vstpuffiille 9056400092 wyywmcflbclinlclcoiti infoymcdijpacliriiccom modern r home furniture j lllr l january floor model i050 off furniture rugs lamps mirrors pictures accents queens pantry 176 main stunionville 9054774625 queensbridge mill 416019th avenue markham 9058871127 mm to advertise in focus on business call your sales representative at 9056402612 vtymm m 1tyto f year end clearance best deals in town 5402 main st 6 stouffville 9056420024 sandys auto jvii i is i- off any job with this coupon 176 bullock dr 8 markham9052943868 not to be used in conjunction with any other special parts pst gst extra offer expires jan 14 2008 w mt ikd faymm com it clicks home jz ns best online business directory t i in i i 1 tii t m