The 2005 City of Edmonton Census (Statistics Canada) reported that 70% of households in McCauley earned less than $40,000 per year. This report also stated that the average household income was $34,000 per year, Adding to the poverty statistics, a full 58% of households made less than $30,000. Let us face facts friends: if you have two parents in the home, with at least one income over $50,000/year, you are most assuredly in the fortunate minority in our beloved neighbourhood.

These are statistics about people who live in the community, not the homeless. There is a big difference between the two. The poor in McCauley consist of people who work for low wages, as well as seniors on a fixed income and those of us who have disabilities or health issues that do not permit us to work full time or part time. Many of these people own their own homes and work hard to keep their heads above water. Many of them avail themselves of the food programs provided by the different churches and free barbeques.

I write this information because I believe that with our limited resources, we need all of the help we can get to provide services for poor families in our community. The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation, the Lions Club, Rotary Clubs, along with labour unions, step up to help because our small community of people who have enough cannot possibly provide programs for those who don’t. Churches from all over the city do whatever they can to help. Those organizations need to be thanked and applauded for their dedication to helping. They are not the problem in our neighbourhood. They are part of the solution.

I write this information because I believe that with our limited resources, we need all of the help we can get to provide services for poor families in our community.

It is our responsibility as citizens of the city and this neighbourhood to help wherever we can. If we are unable to help we need to stay out of the way of those who can, and try not to be a destructive force. If we are fortunate enough to have a home and a job, and we are able to pay our bills with little or no concern, we need to learn from Rose Kennedy. The matriarch of President Kennedy’s family raised her children to know that public service was expected of them because “those to whom much is given, much is expected.”

While on my rant may I also say I am tired of people who have tried to rewrite history to suggest that this community was once an affluent one that has now fallen on hard times. If you merely drive around Highlands (Ada Boulevard), Old Strathcona, and Glenora, for example, you will see very large, old homes, with servants’ quarter capability. We don’t have any homes like that here in McCauley. We have lovely older homes, and a rich history. Our neighbourhood had a prison, a coal mine, and a brick factory – these are not the sort of things one finds in an affluent community. That is not a part of our history. But hard working, honest people raising their families, immigrants and labourers alike, have built this neighbourhood. And we can be proud of them and the history of this place.

Colleen lives in McCauley.