What the Program Has Meant to Me

    My role in the project was as managing coordinator of CCLOW New Brunswick. I learned a lot about my community and got to know many women in Fredericton and the surrounding area. I was able to confirm women's need for employment that I suspected was there. I met local employers and learned about the job situation. Finally, it was my first experience with C.E.I.C., or any other grant-giving bureaucracy of which I now have a better understanding.

    More personally, as a single mother I gained great respect for the other single mothers in the program - eight out of the 15. They showed strength and determination both in providing for their children and in making new lives for themselves.

BONNIE WOOD: MANAGING CO-ORDINATOR

    Bonnie took the job as managing coordinator after being out of the labor force for a few years. She has a BA in sociology and political science. She worked as director of student affairs at St. Thomas University, and for Employment and Immigration in Fredericton. This last experience was not a happy one as she was laid off in 1982. It was a lay-off she grieved. For Bonnie working on the re-entry project has been a healing process. She met and worked with people she once felt she couldn't face. Now she feels that bad experience is all behind her.

    She also discovered how much she liked teaching and that it is not as easy as it looks. The project has inspired her to return to school to earn a bachelor of education degree.

    Considering the current employment situation in Fredericton, our participants have done well finding work. Perhaps the greatest strength of the program has been the change in participants. Without exception they have developed greater confidence in themselves and their abilities. This, along with the impression our participants have made on the community, is the most positive outcome of the program. Keeping our success in mind, I would still like to describe some areas of concern.

The Basic Allowance

    Money provided to the participants is assessed according to the wage of parents or partner. It is assumed that women are dependent. If the partner's income is greater than $210.00 weekly, she will receive only $61.00 per week. Six of our participant were in this group.

     Although the C.E.I.C. claims that this allowance is not a wage (not insurable, not eligible for pension benefits) these women worked hard enough to warrant excellent evaluations, full responsibility on the job, and most were hired.

    Childcare allowances were provided as follows: $80.00 for the first and second children, $50.00 for the third, $25.00 for the fourth and so on. These additions to the allowance provide a dependable source of income to working mothers. For example, a single mother with two children on income maintenance would receive approximately $600.00 monthly but on our program she would receive $1200.00. Often the funds were not used for daycare; cheaper provisions were made or no provisions at all! The allowance system seems inadequate from all perspectives.

The Basis of Acceptance

    In general, women with the greatest financial need are the most motivated to work full time. It would help to select applicants with a proven record of trying to advance themselves. Some method of determining suitability to non-traditional occupations would ensure maximum success. Time revealed that four participants were not actually interested in the work options the program offered.

     Local women should be chosen as travel from outlying areas is too costly and it puts a greater stress on the participants; employment options are severely limited.

    The selection process should try to determine the participants commitment to the program. Lack of mobility may prevent women from completing the program or remaining in the area to make use of their new contacts.