By Kendall Worth!
Summer is one out of two times a year that many welfare recipients complain is a difficult time of year for them. The reason is because in summer they often feel out of place, and in some cases they feel more socially isolated. Throughout this post, I talk about reasons as to why summer is not so enjoyable for them. I tried to describe why in this post: https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/2023/06/canada-day-in-halifax.html , and again in this one: https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/2023/07/words-of-encouragement.html Some people tell me that this summer, in particular, is taking even more of a toll on their mental health, than previous summers living in poverty. Today – August 12th - I decided I wanted to do a check-in to see how things are going, and to find out how they are faring through the summer months.
This article https://nsadvocate.org/2018/06/25/kendall-worth-why-people-living-in-poverty-miss-out-on-summer-time-fun-and-relaxation-and-a-wonderful-idea/ is about what summertime fun could look like in the community for whom I advocate. Although from 2018, one person told me that this article is even more relevant today, and applies each and every summer we are living in poverty.
The reason it is more relevant is because of price inflation especially on groceries, and increasing homeless/increasing risk of becoming homeless.
https://twitter.com/DietitiansCAN/status/1536789493793140737?s=20
Lately, I had been in-touch with people who are part of my community, and checked in with them to ask how their summer is going. Many pointed out that they feel that summer is preparing them for December and the way it will be for them at the Holidays once again. I wrote about worries about Christmas in this post: https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/2023/08/its-only-august-but-discussions-about.html 4 income assistance recipients recently told me that they could not going to get home to Cape Breton to visit their families before this summer is over. Others who have families who live in other parts of rural Nova Scotia feel the same way. The reasons for this is all about the continuing of inflation, and the increasing risk of them becoming homeless themselves if rent and power is not up-to-date. An increase in Income assistance rates did not happen at the provincial budget this year, and any extra money from GST, Carbon Tax Rebate, Etc went straight to the higher cost of groceries.
Now, four summers in a row, getting together with family, Friends (for those who are lucky enough to have friend and family they gather with) In 2020 and 2021 it was because of COVID, then in 2022 it was because of re-adjusting to normal life following COVID and restrictions, and now, in 2023 because of the carbon tax and inflation. Life gets more difficult for their already difficult lives.
Sources in the my community have told me, that recently, places like Souls Harbour, Hope Cottage, etc have seen the longest line-ups they have ever seen. It is not just Income Assistance and people receiving CPP that use these places anymore. Sources tell me, that, this year, they are now seeing more working poor in these line ups. To me this is sad considering that unlike Income Assistance recipients, working poor people have got less time to stand in line and used to have other options. With Thanksgiving then Christmas coming up, I plan to do separate post, illustrating what it is going to cost for organizations to provide holiday meals this year. I think about how these longer ups are costing these organizations more money to feed their clients, then before.
In the meantime, one question I did ask people living in poverty, is Have you been taking in any of the Free Summer Events I have been encouraging, this summer? A few said yes, but the majority of them said no. Aside from stigma and no-one to go with, another reason they brought to my attention, that they cannot attend, is that they feel out of place when they see financially better off folks, who are attending the free events, but buying stuff from the vendors, and looking happy, spending time with their families or friends. So many of the folks I am talking about have no one.
I will end this article by saying if everyone had more money to live on then summer would be much better for us, and we would be able to enjoy day-to-day life more.
Epilogue:
I have written extensively, in the past, about this issue… so, if you want to explore more about the issue:
If you go back to my earlier days of writing in the Nova Scotia Advocate the following are three more articles I have written that shows examples of the COLD hard facts that are related to general bad feeling of summer that is at a much higher rate this year.
This article illustrates how some of the part-time jobs that welfare recipients have during the school year, can make summer socially isolating.
This article points out how Income Assistance Recipients can sometimes have uncomfortable encounters when they do (and the example I used is the article is Canada Day Events) go to places like the waterfront and run into people they know from other parts of their lives (not from those they meet in line at Food banks and Soup Kitchens)
And this article is about what a birthday that falls in the middle of summer could look like.
Even though all 3 of those Nova Scotia Advocate pieces were posted between 2017 and 2021, many Income Assistance recipients, who saw those articles, say they are two or three time more relevant this summer then in previous summers. I could not agree more.
Comments
Post a Comment