Charmaine, one of our Community Commissioners reflects on what the Poverty Truth Commission means to her and why we need to talk to bring about change.
The PTC is important to me. I’ve had conversations with fellow Community Commissioners about how difficult it is to talk about the hardships we have been through. We have all really struggled to do this, but I think that we need to talk about the hard stuff. Its important for us to discuss issues such as Domestic Abuse, Mental Health and Illness.
Through our discussions and as a collective, the PTC can drive organisations to put appropriate support in place to help people going through similar challenges to us in the future.
The support that has already been put in place has been put there by people who have absolutely no idea what it is like going through the things we have and are still going through. However, how are these organisations meant to understand if we are not brave enough to talk about the hard stuff?
I don’t want anyone to feel like I have been made to feel. I felt stupid, worthless, unworthy, downgraded, all because those who were supposed to be supporting me didn’t understand what I was actually going through.
Through talking, we can shape this support to make sure people get the help they actually need – get it faster and have that help for longer. This assistance will mean that the after effects of challenging times are less impactful on their lives.
[Photo: Community and Civic Commissioners talking at a PTC meeting]
