By Kendall Worth!
Both holidays mentioned in the title are approaching, especially Thanksgiving. This BLOG post here points out one out of several examples within the community of people I advocate for who have no choice but to celebrate these holidays alone. In this particular BLOG post, I used an example of a welfare recipient who lives here in Halifax and fake-names him self Bob.
Christmas on the other hand is still two months away but, in this article here (published in the now folded Nova Scotia Advocate), I explain why people living in poverty who
celebrate Christmas need to start planning early. Here is another BLOG post which explains the reasons why.
Over this past week I have been having conversations with welfare recipients who spoke to me about why being alone on the Labour Day long weekend does not impact their mental health as much as spending Thanksgiving and Christmas alone does. This is because Labour Day is seen as a celebration for workers. Labour day does not have the same family focus as Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, putting the differences between the holidays aside, considering that we have these two major holidays coming up, we should start thinking about collaborations like this blog discusses. Otherwise, some - if not many - of us are going to spend these holidays by ourselves, and at no fault of our own. The following statements explain why:
- Many within the community I advocate for are not invited to spend the holidays with friends and family members. In some cases, even of we are lucky to have family, family members believe the stigma about is us and make assumptions about why we are on income assistance. For more about the stigma I am describing, click here, here, and here!
- Another reason many of us are forced to spend holidays alone is because of the cost of travel. The cost of taking Maritime busses and shuttles is not in the budgets of many income assistance recipients with family who live out-of-town.
- And for many, they do not have any family left or, if they do, they are not in contact with them.
What is sad is that when we do spend these holidays alone, we miss out on social celebration. Creating opportunity for collaboration can be a benefit at this time of year because, through collaboration, we can organize solutions to problems. Everyone and anyone - welfare recipients included - would love to enjoy turkey dinners and a slice of pie at both Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Here is an article I once wrote that talks about the cost of shopping for Thanksgiving dinner. However, due to out-of-control inflation and price-gauging, the cost is growing higher and higher. Read more about that here.
Out of control prices is another reason as to why I believe that collaboration and organizing for the holidays is more important than ever for people living in poverty. Sharing a meals and collaborating is not only more enjoyable, it is also more cost-effective!
So what is the answer? Well something I will continue to advocate for is a social prescription organization to get started here in Halifax. This organization could help welfare recipients arrange Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. Either way, we should all be thinking about this. Which organizations are ready to help take this on? Lets get the ball rolling I say!
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