The desperate calls for help come before Mark Cherrington can roll out of bed.
His typical morning routine is to wake up to a long string of texts from single moms in need of diapers and baby formula, families in crisis who need help with transportation, or a parent who is pleading to be reunited with their child.
With COVID-19 closing daycares, schools, libraries and putting tremendous strain on charitable organizations such as food banks, advocates say people who were already living on the margins are being pushed past the brink of survival.
Last week, Cherrington ran into a young man he has been helping for years. He was in tears. It wasn’t because he was homeless. It wasn’t because he didn’t have an ID, bank account or financial supports from the government.
It was because downtown was so barren he couldn’t find any empty bottles to salvage.
“The bottle guy really affected me because I hadn’t even thought of that,” Cherrington said. “All these ripples of chaos that are coming from this pandemic are really highlighting where our safety gaps are.”
Cherrington, an Edmonton youth and family advocate who has helped vulnerable people for more than 25 years said many of the families he deals with have used their monthly food bank quota and don’t know where to turn.
“Everything with these moms is compounded,” Cherrington said. “They’re dealing with no child care, the schools closing down have had a huge impact … They don’t have these strong family supports that many of us have. And of course, poverty really comes into play.”
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