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cycle of poverty This is where it starts: sometime this month â€" or mayâ€" be next â€" a midâ€"size company is pushed to outsource its IT department to stay viable. A parent loses a job. At first, he finds freelance work, then temporary manâ€" ual labour gigs. Then, nothing. g A single parent, he looks at starting his own business, | MILTON CANADIAN CHAMPION | Thursday, December 8, 2016 | 6 Breaking the but that would require an infusion of cash. Or retrainâ€" | ing, but that too would cost money, and leave the | household without an income for an extended period | ‘= of time. § The first things to go are the luxuries â€" TV packages, smartphones, music lessons. The SUV is traded in for a used compact car. Next come some harder choices â€" running the washing machine less often to save on hydro and water, fewer trips to the grocery store supplemented with items from the local food bank. One day â€" and then the next â€" both kids go to school without breakfast. They are the faces of poverty in our communities. In a fourâ€"part Metroland special investigative series launched in the Champion November 17, reporters from community papers across southern Ontariq take a close look at poverty, which may at first blush not be visible in affluent areas such as Milton or Oakville. They presented research that says more than 370,000 Ontario children (or 13.8 percent) lived in a lowâ€"inâ€" come household in 2013, only slightly better than the national average of 14.3 per cent. They also found that 12,000 students a day make use of the 73 school breakfast programs run by the Ontario Student Nutriâ€" | tion Program, and more than 800,000 students take part in more than 4,000 school meal programs across | the province. Included in the articles, in an effort to | seek out solutions, are interviews with those directly affected by poverty, as well as educators, food bank workers, transitional housing executives and local politicians. They each tell an important story and contribute ideas on how to end poverty and homelessness in Halton â€" and beyond. Certainly, initiatives such as the recent changes to the Child Tax Benefit program will help. As well, accurate, | Hockey pays a detailed information garnered through the recently | restored longâ€"form Census will aid in creating a foâ€" | cused poverty strategy. But it could be years before such strategies bear fruit. Other avenues that need to be explored include ecoâ€" nomic development that focuses on maintaining â€" and creating â€" seeking out ways to help residents in Ontario Works succeed in securing meaningful employment without all, students need to learn life skills and strategies that | will help them find a different future. local jobs, investments in training and | Make no mistake: child poverty is family poverty, and | it is a cycle we need to break. GO NUTS: Champion reader Diane Burgess snapped this photo of a chipmunk she named Chester during a recent walk around town. Do you have a unique, interesting, fun or cute photo taken in Milton that you would like to submit to be considered for Snapshot? Send submissions (minimum 600 KB resolution) to editor@miltoncanadianchampion.com or use the hashtag #MiltonChampion on Instagram. Please include the name of the photographer (for publication) and a description of the photo including the location where it was taken. Hometown Hockey on its way | Hockey fans, are you feelin‘ the exâ€" citement yet? In just a little over a week (Decemâ€" ber 17â€"18) Rogâ€" er‘s Hometown visit to Milton as part of its coastâ€" toâ€"coast tour. How fitting that the Sunday eveâ€" ning broadcast News/Sports Editor will be of a New York Islanders game â€" the same team our town‘s most wellâ€" known NHL, John Tonelli, helped lead to worrying about clawhacks to benefits while paying for four consecutive Stanley Cups. the transportation and child th ire. Most of | w o anet o | hockey experience, Hometown Hockey | celebrates the grassroots passion and | A wildlyâ€"popular part of our country‘s success of our game. And to say it‘s got me excited would be an | Steve LeBlanc | | understatement. | As Rogers‘ arrival draws near I‘ve been | thinking about the most notable aspects | of Milton‘s hockey history â€"like having | a local lad, Enio Sclisizzi, crack the NHL as | far back as the late ‘40s, or when the Jr. A Merchants brought the entire community | together with their 1997â€"98 run to the naâ€" tional Royal Bank Cup. Then there‘s Tonelli‘s remarkable exploits â€" what a treat is was to finally meet him | at the recent firstâ€"class induction for the Milton Sports Hall of Fame â€" and young | Victoria Bach‘s ongoing bid to don the red | and white for the Olympics. | They‘ll be plenty of activities to be enâ€" | joyed over the Hometown Hockey weekâ€" | end, and | can‘t wait to see how it all comes together. Footage from other comâ€" munities is great to see, but it can‘t posâ€" | sibly match the experience of being there. Yes for Milton hockey fans, Christmas is | coming early this year. | | | | Insidehaliton.com 555 Industrial Drive, Milton, Ont. 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