Mothers outraged as gov't axe falls
on long running support program

By JOANNA WONG
WITHIN 48 hours of learning
local support program Mothers’
Time Off (MTO) had. been cul,
officials were inundated with do-
zens of letters from devastated
Terrace moms. ,

The program, which has provi-
ded help to local:.moms~-and
children for the last-27 years, lost

iis finding’ from the Ministry of

Children and Family Develop-
ment last week. eo
Eileen Howells, who managed
the program’ under’ the . Terrace
and District Community Services
Seciety, says MTO was the only

. program of its kind in Terrace.

““This is one of the few preven-
tion. programs,” said Howells.
“This is very narraw minded and

everything from managing on a
short budget to appropriate discip-
line for children.

“This program has been a life-
line for mothers and families in
our community,” said mom Ca-
tharine Hart, who believes the
program’s withdrawal could result
in-an increase in child abuse and
depression in new mothers.

“ “Mother's Time Off was open to

everyone and free transportation
to and from the program was pro-
vided,

“People weren't told to go,
they wanted to go,” said Howells,
“Some days we had to turn people
away — | think that speaks vo-
lumes for the need.”

Local moms are outraged the
program has been cut.

“This program has been a lifeline for mothers
and families in our community.”

short-sighted and in the end it will

cost [the government] a lot more.”

The program, which had 1,231
visits from mothers last year, ran
on a shoestring budget of $40,000.

Participants paid $2 a visit, but
only if they could afford it.

“If MTO provides the skills

and the coping abilities to parents’

to prevent even two children from
going into foster care, it has paid
for itself,” said former program
participant Ev Bishop. “We can't
afford to shut MTO down.”

The program ran four days a
week from September until June
and was used by an average of
10-15 moms and their children per
day. ,

For about two hours each
morning, MTO offered lectures,
resources and’ support to moms
while their children were cared
for in another room.

“We did as many things with
limited amounts of money as we
could,” said head worker Trish
Curtis, who organized sessions on

“Terrace is a community that
is currently facing many
hardships,” said former program
participant Candida Fenrick. “If
there ever was time that it was
most important to have support
systems, this is it,”

New immigrant Monica Yang
said the program allowed her to
adjust to her new life in Canada
and make friends in Terrace.

“This program. helped me a
lot,” said Yang. “I love it,”

MTO also provided early child-
hood experiences for low-income
children.

“My children have all loved
attending this program,” said par-
ticipant Charlene Sorenson. “It is
preschool for those of us who
can't afford to enrol our children
in preschools.”

One of the best parts of the
program, said Howells, is that it
was run for moms by moms and
involved the entire community.

Some moms, she said, grew up
as children at MTO and returned

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4718-B Lazelle Avenue, Terrace
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LOCAL, PROGRAM coordinators Trish Curtis and Eileen Howells
hold up the dozens of jetters they've received protesting the clo-

sure of their successful support program “Mothers’ Time Off.”

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 3, 2002 - A3

as participants and teachers.

“Involving the moms in an area
where they can be of help to
others moms helps to boost their
self-esteem,” said program parti-
cipant Solange Rioux Twiname.
“They feel like they can help
each other if only given the
chance.”

According to Marilyn Lissi-
more, executive director of the
Terrace and District Community
Services Society, MTO will not
be replaced with any similar ser-
vices.

“They are not transferring this

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money lo another agency, they are
not reinventing the program under
another name,” said Lissimore.
"They are cutting it.”

Howells said the decision
couldn’t have come at a worse
time,

The program has already shut
down for the summer, making it
harder for officials to organize
moms to save it.

“We'll follow the process and
take it wherever we need to,” said
Howells, who hopes to get the de-
cision rescinded. “We're not giv-
ing up.”

ERWIN JE
-KITIMA

News In Brief

Mammography readied

HEALTH CARE officials have set late next week
as the time when the area’s new mammography
machine is to go into service. The old one at Mills
Memorial Hospital was taken out of service last
fall after it was judged to be unreliable.

A replacement got caught up in a general freeze
on government health care expenditures late last
year until it was lifted earlier this spring.

“I know that we have two days scheduled, July
11 and 12,” said Northern Health Authority official
Cholly Boland of the set up and testing period,

While the old-machine> was stationary, the new
one is mobile, meaning it can be taken to smaller
communities so that women won't have to travel to
Terrace for breast cancer screening,

An earlier plan to buy a van for transport to those
smaller communities has been abandoned, said
Boland. “We'll rent one as needed,” he said.
“Since it will be spending the majority of the time
in Terrace, it just didn't seem to make economic
sense,”

School fee reversal

PROVINCIAL EDUCATION officials have
changed their minds about charging foreign work-
ers money to send their children to public schools.

The B.C. Liberal government in May eliminated
the no-charge policy applying to adults with stu-
dent or employment authorizations for one year or
more. But the elimination, which would have
meant foreign workers paying thousands of dollars
to public schools, drew protests.

Critics said it would be next to impossible to re-
cruit foreign workers such as nurses, which are
badly needed in B.C., if they had to pay the full
cost of student tuition.

“Clearly, the changes have had a farther-ranging
impact than had initially been anticipated,” edu-
cation minister Christy Clark wrote school board
chairs on June 18. “In response to the concerns
raised, I have directed the Ministry of Education to
reinstate the policy to its pre-May 10th status.”

Theft suspects arrested

TERRACE RCMP say two male youths were ar-
rested on the 2600 block of Pear St. early on June
21 for possession of stolen property.

Police believe the two may have stolen items
from vehicles parked in the area, They ask anyone
whose vehicle was broken into that night to con-
tact police so appropriate property can be returned
and charges can be laid.

If you have information about thefts from vehi-
cles — especially on the south side of Terrace ~
please contact the Terrace RCMP detachment at
638-7400.

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