Rethinking a Situation.

 

Rethinking a Situation. Some Welfare Recipients Come from a Different Perspective!

By – Kendall Worth

 

 

A welfare recipient, who I know well, had an experience just over a week ago, that is troublesome. He tried to help out another welfare recipient, who he thought was his friend. They have known each other since 2017. The welfare recipient he wanted to help out - let’s call her Karen - became homeless just within the past couple of weeks, because, like many others, she could no longer afford to pay rent. I want to be clear that the plan, as reported to me, was that he (lets call him Bob) was going to allow her to stay at this place for one night and one night only. He crossed paths with her on a walk early in the day on Sunday. In a nutshell, while Karen was at his place she behaved in rude, disrespectful and abusive ways. She was not willing to respect boundaries and gave Bob every reason not to trust her. According to Bob, Karen behaved potentially like she is a mental health consumer, not taking her prescribed meds.

As usual I will not be identifying the names of the actual folks involved. This week, I also talked to the Social Worker at the North End Community Health and a volunteer at a local soup kitchen, who, once a month accompanies 4 welfare recipients, on their cheque day errands. As you will see below, the behaviour came as no surprise to them.

That incident, reported to me, was the inspiration for this story. I will get into more details later in this post…

But I have written extensively in the past about reports in public – to management or security (or even police) -- that people are acting inappropriately, or using inappropriate body language. I have previously written quite a number of times about the part of the community of people I advocate for who get approached by police or private security, and treated like they are in trouble for acting out what is perceived to be “Inappropriate body language”. In that link, there is a link to stories I wrote in the NS Advocate. Then in this link I talked about why I, myself, did not call 911 when I once saw someone in public, acting out inappropriate body language (often leering or staring). Too often people assume that these behaviours are related to “being on welfare”. I am often asked why people behave this way, and other related questions and comments I frequently get asked by my community of BLOG readers:

• What’s the reason for the behaviour? Does it have anything to do with being of low income? Too often people assume it is because the person is a “welfare recipient”.

• Should we consider the possibility that people who are acting out in inappropriate ways are not taking prescribed medication?

• Do we ever consider that people may be acting out as a result of decisions they made and the life they experienced before they lived on Income Assistance?

• Is the approach by security, often triggered by the complaints from others who feel uncomfortable, even though people are not causing trouble and are minding their own business?

• Do people who feel harassed ever consider that the reason they get approached has nothing to do with stigmatizing a welfare recipient?

I have written about these issues previously, here and here. In the eyes of my community of readers this happens because these welfare recipients are in serious need of help for their mental health issues.

After the experience that Bob had, it made me realize that sometimes we have to re-think things from different perspectives. Bob was clear, he says, that he told Karen he would allow her to sleep on his couch for one night, and one night only, setting very clear boundaries for that one night. For the first couple of hours she was in his apartment, he says, she behaved fine, then all of a sudden she started behaving like "a psycho" who did not want to respect boundaries. Also and more concerning, was that Karen began to express conspiracy theories about Bob’s actions, to treat him in a threatening manner, but also “hitting on him” inappropriately, while at his apartment.

To help you understand her behaviour I googled “Stories of Mental Health Consumers not taking their meds.” I found this article on the internet. It describes the way that Karen was behaving toward Bob. During the day they spent together, Bob reported he tried to encourage her 3 times to go to the hospital because the feelings she was expressing. Karen ended up, Bob says, freaking out at him and using every excuse possible to not go to the hospital. She also objected and “freaked out” a 4^th time when he suggested that the next morning he would try and get her in touch with some organizations that can help with housing/shelter. She told him -- “How do I know I can trust these people who you are going to be calling? “ When he explained that he was talking about professionals who help people find housing she yelled at Bob, coming up with many excuses for not wanting help. He ended up having to have her removed from his apartment by police. From the bottom of his heart, he told me, he did not want to call the police but felt he had no choice due to her behaviour.

 

 

From: https://mentalhealthhope.com/refusing-to-take-medication/

This story brings up the issue that there may be some welfare recipients out there who just do not want help, or do not want to take opportunity to come forward about their situations. While in conversation with the social worker at the North End Community Health Centre, this week, about what happened, she said: Though I cannot get into details due to client confidentiality, here at the health centre her behaviour does not come as a surprise. Through my work I sometimes see clients who have trust issues with everyone, and use every excuse possible for not wanting help. However, she suggested to me that because too many people buy into conspiracy theories, that may have been one reason why a lot of first voice folks stayed away from BRAG, when that group existed.

This article here explains why at least 4 welfare recipients reported to me that will not go to do their cheque day errands unaccompanied. Just this week, I asked the volunteer, who accompanies people on errands on cheque day, if he ever heard clients utter things under their breath , especially out of frustration?

He answered this question by saying: Kendall, I promised myself I would keep everything I have gotten to know about the people I accompany on cheque day, confidential. However, what you are bringing to my attention does not surprise me. There have been times when I have encouraged the ones I accompany on cheque day, to go get help, and/or mental health treatment, because of their behaviour. They will not go.

Every situation is different!