By – Kendall Worth!
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| Entrance - Halifax Infirmary... |
Ms Pink-Nell (not her real name) came to me with her story on Sunday June 11th 2023. She is one of these welfare recipients, I have written about previously, who needs someone to accompany her home from day surgery at the hospital, but who does not have a close friend or family to do so. Just like in Bonnie’s story she needed to find a solution, to the demand for accompaniment on the day of her surgery. This is a topic I do not want really want to be reporting on anymore and I explain why in a quote from Bonnie’s story…
“Every time I have written about this topic, attacks came from readers who do not seem to know or understand the situations of the people I advocate for. Also, previously, my social media inbox filled up with arguments, but also with people offering to help. Health Care Professionals tell me that accompaniment is necessary after anaesthesia even if the patient feels awake and alert. It is not safe for the patient to go home alone because the effects of the anaesthesia can last 24 hours following surgery. But welfare recipients know that health professionals and others have incomes so much larger than $950/month they cannot understand a life that involves standing in lines at soup kitchens and food banks and using other drop-ins available to people living in poverty. It has been suggested to me that we could assemble a team of retired people to drive people home from hospital and stay with them, but not sure this is feasible.”
Then I wrote and published an open letter to Minister Michelle Thompsom advocating for a solution and even made a suggestion that would solve this problem.
So let’s have a look at Ms Pink-Nell’s life on income Assistance!
In yet another example of many welfare recipients in the HRM Community, her disabilities prevent her from working full time. She told me she has worked part time in the past, but had to quit because the stress increased her mental health issues.
In one way she is lucky - she lives in a privately owned building where the owners of the buildings have always been strong believers in helping the Community anyway they can, including not raising the rent unnecessarily. He landlords tells her that it they raise the rent, especially now, where there is an increasing homeless population they might be contrinuting to… Her Landlords are giving her comforting words by saying that they will not Instantly raise the rent after the rent cap is lifted in 2025. She currently pays $600.00 a month for her rent for her one bedroom apartment. Heat, Hot-water and Lights are all included in her rent. She also gets access to free internet. So this is a sweet deal, in these days.
She receives the $950.00 Standard House Hold Rate Plus $40.00 Special Needs allowance for a phone, Plus $81.00 for 3 special Diets = $1017.00 a month is her income. After Rent and her phone bill are paid, she has = $353.00 left over to get her through the month. She told me she is very proud of having quit smoking in the last year – though it took 2 years of trying. She told me that she has not smoked a cigarette for almost a one year now awhch makes it so much easier to budget. She still uses the services of the Soup Kitchens and food banks, but, over this past year, she found she was making fewer trips to access those services. I Personally congratulated her on this achievement!!!
She lives her day to day life hoping for better days to come. She keeps her fingers crossed that Bill C22 will pass and that she will qualify for the Canada Disability benefit, when it becomes available. She has many Mental Health Issues.
Soon, she has to go into the hospital for a day-surgery hernia repair, and she needs someone to accompany her, home. During my interviewed with her on Sunday I gave her some suggestions. She was able to successfully work out a solution. I will not disclose how.
I wish Ms Pink-Nell all the best!
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