By Kendall Worth
Today I took a walk with a woman (Lets call her Pat-ral). She choose the name Pat-ral because it is an uncommon name and she feels strongly she must not be recognized by anyone she knows.
Even though she is not on Income Assistance yet, she still does not want her real name used, because if certain family members and past friends find out about her current state, where she could potentially be on income assistance or become homeless, they might, she worries, get after, harasses her and stigmatize her. She is currently holding down 2 part time jobs which pay only a little more than minimum wage.
Pat-ral is currently in her early 40’s. Pat-ral told me that even before COVID she has always had off and on mental health issues and sometimes needed time off work to deal with them. She has lived in the same apartment since she was 24 years old. First - learning this current story actually brought back a memory of a story I wrote in the Nova Scotia Advocate, in 2017, which is still strongly related to the story of Pat-ral.
In 2018 and 2019 , she applied for Income Assistance, but was turned down. During COVID Lock-Downs and Restrictions she was able to afford rent because of short lived time of the CERB.
She first applied for income assistance in November 2018 after her employment insurance ran out. The first time she was turned down, she was told she was employable and should go back to work and would not listen to her when she tried to explain that she could not go back to work because of mental health issues. They also suggested she had too much money in her bank account. Following that, she went to Dal legal aid to get help to appeal the decision. Dal legal Aid advised her; after considering Community Services decision and reasons, that, the best thing to do is to spend the money in her bank account and getting a letter written by her doctor, about her medical condition before applying again.
She followed the advice that Dal legal Aid has given her. Dal Legal Aid said it would not be worthwhile appealing the decision through the Community Services Appeals Process because the Appeal Board is likely going to uphold the decision
She applied again in February 2019. Between the first application and the second, her rent went from $700 a month to $800.00 a month. Then in February of 2020, just before the first COVID Lock-Down her rent went up to $1000 a month. Her rent does include heat, hot water and power. All-inclusive may sound like a sweet deal, however, it is really not when you live on next to nothing. Between November of 2018 and February of 2019 she had to borrow from a friend in order to keep her rent up to date.
She took some time to follow the advice from Dal Legal Aid and went back to Community Services a second time and applied again. They got back to her and told her they could not approve her for income Assistance because her documentation was incomplete, and gave her no further explanation. At that point, she had another job offer and started that job in February of 2019. She got laid off from that job just before COVID started and that is how she qualified for CERB.
She has asked me not to disclose the location or occupation where she currently works. Her net income from both jobs after the mandatory deductions of Income Tax, EI and CPP, is $1682 a month. $1000 goes directly on her rent, and does not have to worry about paying a power bill because power is included in her rent. Then $54.00 a month goes on her cell phone bill so that leaves her with $628.00 a month. She has a credit card which she ends up using to eat. She puts her remaining $628.00 on her Credit Card. She tells me with working 2 part-time jobs, one with split shifts, does not allow her, or include time for, going to places like Souls Harbour, Hope Cottage, Etc regularly. That is why she uses credit for food and personal hygiene items.
While I was interviewing her for this story, she told me that she lives her day-to-day life hoping the day will come that she does not have to work 7 days a week in order to make ends meet. She pointed out that when she read This blog post and this one she wanted to make sure I understand… as she said: “Kendall it is not only income assistance recipients that need Activists speaking up for them, it all of us who are struggling that need opportunity to speak up!" She told me that during the short lived time of CERB, while $1000 out of her $2000 per month went to pay rent, the other $1000 went to paying her friend the money she owed her friend for groceries. The fact that she was able to do this during CERB, made her thankful she qualified for it.
Today, she lives her life, patiently waiting to find out if she is going to qualify for the federal Disability Benefit once that becomes available, or if basic Guaranteed Income is ever going to become reality. If Income Assistance was a Guaranteed Income then we both feel that what they asked of her, would not be relevant, when she applied for income assistance.
Due to her health issues these days, she has some days coming up that she has to go to the hospital for an MRI. She may have to take Medical Leave from work, and she is worried that is she cannot qualify for Employment insurance or Income Assistance. She worries she will become homeless, while off work on Medical Leave.
There is no excuse for Pat-ral to have to hold down two part-time jobs, while not well, just to make ends meet except for the non-existence of a better system.
I hope for the best for Pat-ral.
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