In a lot of conversations surrounding health care and, more specifically, within Community Health Centre circles, there is an understanding that all people are born into certain circumstances and these circumstances have an impact on opportunity and wellbeing. No one asks to be dealt cards that make life more difficult, resulting in systemic barriers and fewer opportunities. I was born into one of those “I wouldn’t ask for this” situations.

Almost 28 years ago exactly, my white 43-year-old unemployed mother gave birth to me in New Brunswick. I came into the world biracial, full of hope and love, and a blank slate to the world. My father remained out of the picture for many years, leaving my mom to care for me on my own. Because of the cost of childcare and the bare minimum cost of living expected to be hirable, my mom chose to seek social assistance. She also experienced several traumatic incidents contributing to alcoholism. Despite these traumas and multiple challenges, she was still able to provide for me.

We struggled heavily until I was 14. Then we were granted the ability to move into subsidized, low income housing which alleviated a large amount of financial burden. I also started working part-time and helped wherever I could. I recall buying our first “big screen” TV, toaster, and blender for my mom. Living in the subsidized housing community was shocking for me. While we were on assistance, my mom did try very desperately to make it seem like we didn’t have financial barriers. She would eat less than me, wore the same jeans for 10 years, while I dressed the same as other kids, had the best school supplies and was well fed. Seeing other people struggling worse than us reminded me to be forever grateful for even the meagre means we did have. I graduated high school top of the class and was offered a full scholarship from the Ron Smyth Board after expressing that I wanted to end the cycle of poverty in my family and be one of only two members of that side of my family to attend university. And so, I attended university while still living with my mom in low-income housing, thinking soon I would end our poverty and get my mother and me out of that situation.

What I was unaware of was all the factors outside of income that held my mother trapped in this position. In third year of university, my mother became ill and lost the ability to walk after taking care of herself so poorly for all of those years. Within a calendar year she developed early onset dementia. After years of reflection, I have come to understand that money cannot fix mental health issues, addiction, trauma. There was a huge need for resources to be at my mother’s disposal where there were none, and the lack thereof certainly worked against us.

Since working with CACHC, I have come to appreciate how crucial the Community Health Centre model is and how it would have helped my mother, myself, my neighbors in low income housing and so many others throughout New Brunswick . To this day, I hear about the lack of mental health resources in New Brunswick. I cannot fathom how my life would have been impacted had there been a safe and accessible place my mother could have gone to speak to someone about her trauma, to work out her addictions, to get help with food insecurity, which offered programs where I could have gone so she could have adult time, and where I could have maybe met other racialized kids experiencing the barriers I was starting to face.

The Community Health Centre model reminds me that it takes a village to raise a person and a community. I believe better investment in Community Health Centres across our country can only further bolster a sense of society, where it is not simply every person for themselves. As the pandemic has highlighted, we all thrive off one another. Connections matter. Community matters. Investing in CHCs is an investment in healthier people, healthier communities, safer communities, and a more engaged population. I can only hope stories like mine will encourage policy makers, politicians, and governments at all levels to support CHCs across our country.