By Kendall Worth!
CC: Premier Tim Houston
Minister Karla MacFarland
Minister McFarland;
I am writing about the wildfires, and the impact on people on social assistance in Nova Scotia.
I am making this letter public, to say to all reading this letter, especially those affected by the wildfires and evacuations - my thoughts and payers are with you at this time.
I am writing this letter about my concerns related to income assistance recipients who may live in the areas of Nova Scotia that are affected by the wildfires. I personally met, just yesterday, one income assistance recipient who lives in the evacuation zone in Hammonds Plains. He does have a bus pass, however, the Metro Transit Bus that serves the Hammonds Plains neighbourhood only runs weekdays and only during “peak hours”. So, on Sunday, when he had to evacuate, there were no buses in his neighbourhood. He told me it took him over 2 hours to walk from his place to the Bedford Highway to catch a bus. Thankfully he had a big water-bottle, otherwise he would have been seriously dehydrated by the time he arrived at the bus stop.
This description is just one example of how the wildfires are affecting Income Assistance Recipients.
Minister McFarland, everyone including Income Assistance Recipients know that there are "Comfort Centres". However, not all income assistance recipients have access to social media, and social media seemed to be the main way of advertising these comfort centres. Crises, like the current wildfires, is why Income Assistance recipients could use an extra allowance for internet at home. It is not hard to determine that after rent and bills are paid, from $950 or $609 monthly allowances, they do not drive/have a car. If any income assistance recipients living in those areas needed to use taxis to evacuate, and kept a receipt, it would also be helpful for caseworkers to reimburse the cost of the cab fares.
The final issue I want to bring up is that many income assistance recipients suffer from issues of anxiety, depression, and other invisible disabilities. That portion of Income Assistance recipients do not feel comfortable with the idea of sharing the space at a comfort centre with others from the community. So it would be a good idea to look at covering the cost of temporary hotel stays until the evacuation order is lifted, and to issue a one time allowance for anything important they have lost in the fire.
Your Truly;
Kendall Worth!
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