By Kendall Worth!
The Number#1 purpose of my journalism is to advocate for a better system of income assistance through the Department of Community Services, the secondary principal of my published writing is to advocate for change in how we see and treat mental health problems, here in Nova Scotia. This includes the experience of being an income assistance recipient in Nova Scotia and how living that experience adds fuel to the fire of mental health issues.
But the reality is at times some financially-better-off-people, stigmatize Income Assistance Recipients suggesting they are the cause of their own situation.
In past stories, I have touched on the fact that welfare recipients experience stigma in their personal lives that affects their well being day to day, as well as discouragement to better themselves.
I have, through my first hand examination of the lives of people living in poverty, seen the impact of not having friends or social contacts outside of Soup Kitchens, or standing in line at Food Banks. Here is what people who attack and stigmatize welfare recipients don’t get:
The Current income assistance of $950.00 a month means after rent and bills are paid they have nothing left over to be a part of social events.
Financially-better-off-people have ended their friendship with a welfare recipient, and have no interest in wanting to repair the friendship. The welfare recipient got told to not even contact them anymore.
Trying to repair friendships that have ended has serious repercussions.
The system suggests welfare recipient use the Soup Kitchens Not only for the free the FOOD but for getting out and having a life.
More on the impacts of social isolation I explored in this article from which I quote:
Let’s have a look at the various reasons as to why we all need to have like minded friends and social contacts in our lives.
Friends are able to drive vehicles and can do us favours like give us a lift home from the grocery store when the amount of groceries is too much to walk home or bring home on the bus.
As I talked about in past stories in the Advocate, when social assistance recipients need to arrange for a ride home from surgery due to doctor orders, our friend could be our ride home from day surgery.
A friend to get together with once a week for coffee and talk about simple things, like how is you week going, etc.
Someone who can encourage them to do things like go back to school and get a job, etc
Myth Busting and questions people ask. . .
I want to clear up some myths that I have been asked about, based on previous articles. I am curious – are these experiences based on people’s mental health, just being on social assistance or lack of life skills and self-care knowledge or not having the income to deal with it?
The list of questions I got asked regarding those previous stories:
#1 – Kendall, Do people ever think about the possibility that the reasons why their past friendships have ended are is not limited to for example them moving on from employment or school to now receiving Income Assistance?
#2 – Kendall, When they use the reasons like “Misunderstanding the invisible disabilities and mental health issues they suffer from”, people ask. . . “Have the people you advocate for, ever gone and sought the professional help they need after complaining their friendships have ended because of those misunderstandings?
#3 – Every situation is different as to why people end friendships But, people ask: “Do the people you advocate for know that if they continue to try to repair the past friendships that have ended, the actual person who has no interest in wanting to repair that friendship, can have them arrested by police and put up on charges of criminal harassment?
#4 – Do people you advocate for , need life skills training? Do they know and understand that people moving on from past friendships is a general part of life skills? It is often suggested to me that more people could go to work , at least part time, if it was mandatory for those on welfare to attend a life skills training program of some sort. This could be a great opportunity for Community Services (esp. ESIA) and the mental health system to collaborate.
I want to talk about what I myself and others I had been in conversation with, over these past few months have to say about these questions. If you were to have a look through the whole picture of my past Journalism, several stories I have written in the past point out how the life of being an income assistance recipient, and having people in your personal life, stigmatize you, adds fuel to the fire. I have also pointed out in several stories that the reason why friendships end, are not limited to people being on income assistance. According to the people in my community I have had this conversation with, other reasons include:
Getting used to not seeing that person who you use to be friends with, in school or at work everyday, means you feel you have to move on because of this.
Things happened that made each person loose trust in the friendship.
Finding that the friendship is not healthy.
I found this article useful, in that it outlines a lot of reasons that friendships end – and some should end!
One other solution is social prescribing which I wrote about in the Advocate, previously. A pilot project was started in Ontario in 2018, using social prescriptions. “Doctors may be used to prescribing traditional medicine and treatments, but in a new pilot program [in Ontario] they now have the option to prescribe "social prescriptions" — activities that promote social connections and strengthen community bonds.”
“Social prescribing is model of care coordination at the crossroads between health care and social services. Social prescribing helps people get connected to social and community services for their “non-health issues,” from social isolation and loneliness to physical activity, food security and housing. In the process, it frees up valuable clinician time and resources by addressing social needs and moving people’s care a step upstream.”
So maybe Life Skills Training, or Social Prescribing are solutions for the Community I advocate for?
When welfare recipients become isolated and lonely, they are more likely to get ill, as well as being unhappy – we do need to find solutions!
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