New support group for grandparents setting up in Charlottetown

Don Avery, in his 60's,knows what it's like to have a young child in his home.Avery says he and his wife are now caring for their great-grandchild. He says there can beextra expenses.

"I pay $38 for a box of diapers, I pay $8 for a bottle of milk, every two days," said Avery.

That's why Avery is helping to set up a new support group in Charlottetown for grandparents caring for their grandchildren, following the example of a similar group inSummerside.

"These grandparents that are doing this, some have used up all of their life savings, all of their retirement savings, to look after their grandchildren," Avery said.

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The new group is looking for support including financial support from the P.E.I. government, Avery said.

"They're looking for some recognition that, this month, 'I've extended out all of my pension money and I have nothing left and my grandchildren need a new pair of boots'," he said.

These grandparents that are doing this, some have used up all of their life savings, all of their retirement savings, to look after their grandchildren.- Don Avery

"They have to pay for daycare, they have to pay for food, they have to pay for the extras, they have to pay for diapers. They're not asking for the world, they're asking for maybe just a little bit of assistance here."

Census information shows 200 grandchildren on P.E.I. are being raised by their grandparents. For whatever reason, some parents are just unable to raise their kids, Avery said.

"There's addiction, there's mental health, some parents just don't know how to parent, through no fault of their own. I think to have those children in your home, it's to keep the family together and that's probably our main goal."

The issue was on the political agenda last year. A standing committee on health and wellness heard from presenters on a motion made by Family and Human Services Minister Tina Mundy to offer more support to grandparents raising their grandchildren.

The committee met several times to talk about how to support Island grandparents acting as primary caregivers.

In a report from the Standing Committee on Dec. 13, it states "your committee would encourage the Department of Family and Human Services, in collaboration with other relevant departments, to develop a system, separate from the provincial foster system, that ensures support financially and emotionally for grandparents, while being readily available and easily understood."

Resource booklet

The challenges faced by grandparents are well-known to Kelly Robinson, program co-ordinator for the Community Legal Information Association. In 2015, she helped write a booklet called Grandparents Parenting on P.E.I., which she sayshas been accessed in hard copy, or virtually, more than 6,700 times.

"So that's a lot for a small province like P.E.I.," she said.

The booklet coversaddressing the concerns expressed by the 43 grandparents Robinson interviewed for the project, such as the legal rights of a grandparent, where to find mental health support, financial information and access to health and wellness resources.

"A lot of them have questions about what are my rights as a grandparent," she said. "Even understanding internet bullying when you're 80 years old and aren't that computer literate."

End the isolation

The grandparents Robinson spoke with also raised the need for more financial support.

"While we have funding for foster parents on P.E.I., that funding does not extend to grandparents unless they are officially foster parents. And so grandparents rightfully, I suppose, are saying, 'can we talk about that?'," she said.

Avery and his co-organizer for the group, Virginia MacDonald, have heard from about 15 grandmothers who are interested in finding out more.

"I would just like to see it grow and I would like to have as many grandparents become involved whether it's just for the support," said Avery.

"It's very difficult when they're working in isolation and this group I think will be able to take them out of that isolation and just offer them some support. Whether it's just sitting around talking, if you hear my story, your story may be the same."

The group will meet for the first time on Monday, Jan. 23, at 10 a.m. at the Murphy Centre in Charlottetown.

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