Coming into the Month of December 2024

 By Kendall Worth

So, here we are coming into December 2024, and, as I had talked about through my past Journalism Stumbling through the month of December can be very a very difficult task for people on income assistance. I further point out here the feeling of dealing with the December Blues experienced by our large community of Income Assistance recipients, in Halifax.   December is a month full of mixed feeling for welfare recipients in Nova Scotia.  December 2024 comes at a time when, just like Thanksgiving 2024,  as explained in this BLOG post when things are very expensive.  The feeling in the air this year, is not only the issue of Christmas Holidays themselves, but dealing with attending Christmas gatherings, parties and socials that lead up to Christmas, are also going to be expensive,  is going to be expensive just like Thanksgiving was. In a nutshell, as all content posted in the links above proves, the month of December bothers income assistance recipients on several fronts.

This photo gives an inspiring description on what the Month of December should be like. Many within the community for are not so lucky in December.  

 

These fronts include:

1. The month of December acting toward them as a reminder that if the Income Assistance rates was better, they could enjoy the social aspects of life. In 2024, 60% of Income Assistance Recipients started receiving the $300.00 New Disability Supplement and in July the Standard House Rate, for those with disabilities, increased from $950.00 a month to $974.00 a month. Still not enough money to have a merry Christmas, and to participate in what December has to offer, with celebrations up to the big holiday day.
2. Many Income Assistance Recipients do not or cannot, for whatever reason,  get to spend time with family or friends over the holiday season.
3. Also for some Income Assistance Recipients with mental health issues, factors like -- for example, Shopping Malls and Grocery Stores being Busier then normal --  increases their anxiety levels in December.

The reality has been the fact that we had been dealing with out of control inflation for a couple of years, leaving prices high.   The high prices remain and are not likely to come down.  Coming up the federal Government is planning a GST Holiday for 2 months. As this GST Holiday will help somewhat, it is really not going to make much of a differences for income assistance recipients. This is why the community I advocate for through my BLOG as pointed out In this BLOG post here has seen the need to have preparations for people living in poverty to celebrate Christmas,  to begin early and be communicated. The community I advocate for always wants my readership to understand how the month of December affects them mentally as well as financially. The feeling in my community this year is people on Income Assistance are deciding between Am I going to pay rent or Am I going to celebrate Christmas?
 

However this year there is a different kind of concern among those I advocate for through my BLOG. As talked about in my recent  Christmas wish list 2024 post, people who depend on the Christmas dinners for people who are spending Christmas alone By-Themselves that Non-Profit organizations host every year, are worried that these dinners will not be happening this year because of the recent Snap Election that happened November 26th 2024, and volunteers who normally work hard to first plan then host these dinners at locations like Church halls, Etc  - People living in poverty who benefit from these dinners are worried that the time for these volunteers to volunteer on elections campaigns interfered with their time for planning for these dinners.  For more information on the Christmas Dinners I am talking about see  Here and Here Many of these Christmas dinners are hosted by organizations and agencies that are connected to the same Food banks and Soup Kitchens income assistance recipients use in regular day to day life.

However, another side to the general feeling of getting through December is (and as explained in my above-linked from the now-folded Nova Scotia Advocate) that not only with Christmas being in December but also Income assistance recipients anxiety builds up from some of them dealing with things leading up to Christmas. One major example of this is receiving invitations to Christmas and events that lead up to Christmas and being told they can bring a guest. Income Assistance Recipients  understands that going to these Christmas Parties socials and gatherings alone by-themselves is no fun. This year in 2024 the Month of December follows the Snap election that happened on November 26th 2024 See Here some income assistance recipients who volunteered are already grieving the loss of friendships they made during their time of volunteering on election campaigns. Grieving these friendship losses does nothing to help their anxiety. Something I am advocating for through my BLOG is a Social Prescription / Social Prescribing organization to get up and running in Halifax.  

One of the things I learned At the Conference I went to in Toronto on September 26th and 27th 2004 is about how peer support can be more than supporting mental health. One type of peer support that could be helpful during the month of December; is having a type of Program/organization where people who live the situation I describe in my posts, can access Non-Professional friendship peer support. The month of December is in general no fun time to be alone.  Here in Halifax, there are organizations like Food-Banks, Etc that love to support these living in poverty to eat alone within the 4 walls of their apartments at Christmas. And yes a few not for profits host dinners where people who are lonely come together, but where this idea of Non-Professional friendship peer support comes from is thinking about how there is no organization out there working on helping those people who have no access to non professional human contact, while Food Banks and soup-kitchens provide free food. I will be putting out a post in the near future talking about how my idea for this  Non-Professional friendship peer support could work,  so stay tuned.      
 

I will end this by asking what is the solution?  I say let's find a solution.