For one Windsor police officer, the fight against poverty in the community will always hit close to home.
Constable Cealia Gagnon, a ten-year veteran of the Windsor Police Service, experienced poverty first hand as a youth, growing up in a single-parent family with two siblings. Gagnon says she remembers a time when all her family could afford was a lawn chair for her to sleep on.
"It was tough. My mom would have to go to the food bank so we would have food in our lunch," she says. "I went to eight different grade schools. We moved around so many times for my mom to gain employment, so education was difficult for me."
Gagnon says United Way food banks and youth mentoring programs helped to change the trajectory of her life. The United Way was also able to refer her family to child care, education and housing services.
In an effort to give back, the Windsor police constable is now working with United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County help lift 4,000 kids out of poverty as part of the organization's $7.5-million community challenge.
On Friday, Gagnon spoke at the Caboto Club in Windsor during the 2016 United Way Kickoff, which celebrated the start of this year's fundraising season.
"This is my opportunity to let people know how their contributions are helping," says Gagnon. "As a sponsored employee for the campaign, starting at the beginning of the fall last year, I realized who had helped [my family] out and just how much. And it's because of the these programs."
The United Ways says one in five people are currently living in poverty in Windsor and Essex County. That includes more than 23,000 kids and teenagers.