EXCERPTS
For many immigrant women, affordable quality child care isn't a luxury, it's the ticket to a better life.
Nusrat Urmi came to Canada from Bangladesh 11 months ago with the idea of building a better life for her family. With two young children the reality has been different than she imagined.
Her youngest is a chubby and active 18-month-old little boy whom she worries about every time she leaves him with a friend or neighbour so she can improve her English by attending Centennial College.
The Teesdale Place resident has applied for a subsidy to enrol her son in a regulated City of Toronto child care space, but she's on a waiting list - along with thousands of other mothers across the city.
Urmi came to an evening forum Monday, May 30, at AccessPoint on Danforth Avenue in Scarborough hosted by Mothers' Task Force on Child Care.
The project, which launched on Mother's Day is investigating the accessibility, quality and affordability of child care services in Toronto. It came to gather feedback from women in the community, which will be included in a report it plans to release on Father's Day.
Urmi was one of the many women who shared their stories and frustrations.
"I have lots of dreams..I want to get ahead. I want to serve my country," she said, her eyes welling with tears. "We are a low income family so I need the subsidy."
She was too upset to continue and stepped out of the room to compose herself. Later, in an interview, Urmi said she wants her son to have access to a quality child care centre to help him develop his language and social skills.
Ann Decter is with YWCA Canada, one of the organizations working with the task force to raise awareness about the issue.
"We launched it because women still have primary responsibility for child care and yet we're still not hearing women's voices about their experiences getting child care," she said.
Ferdaus Sultana is a mother of two who lives near Crescent Town. She volunteered to share her story to help stimulate the discussion.
"I strongly believe access to child care should be a right," she said.
"It's especially important to immigrants like me. It's important to our survival in Canadian society because I have no close relatives to help me with my children...Without child care I can not work and my family is totally dependent on one income."
Sultana first settled in Montreal when her family came to Canada and there her eldest daughter, who is now 10, was able to access affordable, quality child care. Within a few months she saw her daughter go from a shy and quiet little girl to a child who could speak French and enjoy doing arts and crafts.
Her youngest daughter, who is now 28 months, was born in Ontario and, despite being on a waiting list for a subsidized child care space for two years, has never had access to child care.
"There is a big difference in my second daughter's physical and mental development," Sultana said.
She said the issue is not only affecting her child's development and socialization, but it's also having a demoralizing impact on her. Sultana has a masters in economics and previously worked at an insurance company.
"Over the years I slowly have lost confidence in myself," she said.
Living on one income means the family can't go out for dinner once a week like they used to, and her older daughter is denied the ice skating and piano lessons she would like.
There are thousands of families in situations just like Urmi and Sultana find themselves.
There are nearly 1,000 families on the waiting list for subsidized care in Wards 31 (Beaches-East York) and 35 (Scarborough Southwest) - the areas where the women who attended the forum live. Across the city that number grows to 18,000.
Zannatul Ferdouse isn't on that list yet and after listening to the other women speak she is worried as she needs care now. Her four-year-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia in February and it is a struggle for Ferdouse to take care of her and make sure she's getting the medical care she needs while also taking care of her 10-month-old son.
The family has tried to have her mother obtain a visa to be able to come over from Bangladesh to help - her daughter's doctor even wrote a letter of recommendation - but the application was denied.
"We need a subsidy, please," she said as she shared her emotional story.
Ferdouse planned to apply for the subsidy immediately, but with the waiting list she likely wouldn't be approved in time to help her family.
The task force is gathering these stories and asking women to fill out an online survey so they can have the information they need to compile a thorough report.
- reprinted from Inside Toronto