The Feeling in these Present Days

The Feeling in these Present Days

By Kendall Worth

I am going to start by providing a bit of background as to why I chose the title of this BLOG. 

Throughout my time reporting for the Nova Scotia Advocate, before the passing of its editor, Robert Devet, there has always been a homeless population in Halifax. We have also always had a population of housed people living in poverty.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had conversations with four different people. I will call them Ashley, Rory, Ben and Taylor. These people are housed but still living in poverty. We discussed how people these days, like professionals and politicians, have been focusing more and more on the issue of homelessness in our city.

I want to remind readers that I do not use the real names of people I speak with because they are welfare recipients. If they were to identify themselves, they could be harassed by people who stigmatize them. 

Anyway, part of these conversations was about the fact that my BLOG seems to be one of the only voices of people living in poverty these days. My BLOG is not as widely read as the Nova Scotia Advocate was.

Also, the Benefits Reform Action Group (BRAG) no longer exists. This BLOG post explains why BRAG decided against restarting following COVID lockdowns and restrictions. 

Now, to provide a bit of information about the situations of these people:

• Ashley gets the Standard Household Rate of $950.00 available here in Nova Scotia for people on Income Assistance. She also gets the $40.00 Special Needs telephone allowance. After paying her rent and phone bill, she has almost nothing left to live on.
• Rory suffers from mental health issues and has OCD. He gets the Standard Household Rate of $950.00 plus a $270.00 monthly housing subsidy. He also gets three special diet allowances, which come to $81.00 a month, as well as the Special Needs telephone allowance. In total, this gives him $1301.00 to live on. After his rent and power bill is paid, he only has $301.00 left for food, personal hygiene etc. Remember that $81.00 of this $301.00 goes directly towards his special diet needs. So, really, he is left with only $220.00 for everything else.
• In Ben's case, Community Services only allows him a monthly boarding allowance. This is because he boards in a boarding house. He wants his own place, but with rents increasing these days, it is easier said than done.
• Taylor would not disclose what she pays for rent or what she receives. She says she is at high risk of becoming homeless in a month's time or so. 

What these people all have in common is that they have disabilities that prevent them from working full-time. We talked about the frustration of living in poverty as well as nobody speaking out for them.

The thought of becoming homeless these days is no fun, but the truth is more and more people are struggling to make ends meet. These days, some people feel that more attention is being placed on people who are actually homeless. Of course this is very important. But what about people who are housed and still living in poverty? With BRAG no longer in existence, these four people are feeling like they don't have a voice.

Robert Devet's death, the shut down of BRAG, and the COVID-19 pandemic happened so close together. At the same time, the homeless population started to increase drastically. 

Many people living in poverty do not have the same resources that many activists do. This is why they often struggle to organize events among themselves. This BLOG post talks about how organizing a union of people living in poverty in Halifax is easier said than done, and this BLOG was an open letter to people we know who we hope could help us organize and maybe give us an opportunity to speak out. We didn't receive a response.

In this BLOG post, I elaborate on how frustrations are mounting among the people I advocate for because nobody seems interested in organizing.

The message I want to convey is that it is important to advocate for the homeless, but we must not forget about all people living in poverty. The issue is very big and impacts many, while the government continues to show a lack of interest.  

Hopefully things will improve as we move forward!