We are now offcially into 2025 and time to get moving forward into the New year!

 By Kendall Worth

 

Well I want to start off by reporting on a bit of good news that happened this first week of 2025. 

We are only into the first week 2025 and already, the province of Nova Scotia is seeing an increase in the Income Assistance rates. Many Income Assistance recipients, I am in regular contact with, woke up surprised on the morning of December 27th 2024 when they saw this increase. in my conversations, they told me they were not expecting this increase.

 

This photo shows what the Income assistance rates in Nova Scotia as of January 1st 2025

 

 

 

 

 

So as you can see, a $31.00 increase from the Original $974.00, that began July 1st 2024. So it does seem that baby steps (in what up until December 2025 was called Department of Community Services, now called Department of Opportunities and Social Development)  in the right direction are happening. However, according to the people I advocate for, some tough questions remain. These questions include:

 

• Considering the renaming of the department, what else is being planned for Income Assistance policy reform moving forward?
• Does this renaming of the department  mean that the Unfinished Business of the Employment Support and Income Assistance transformation is never going to get touched?
• What about as I talked about Here , Here And Here reforming the DSP program?
• What more is being done to solve the housing crises here in Halifax? 

And the above question are just a few of the principal questions people have these days.

 

 Even though there is that increase coming in 2025, I always, in the first week of any New Year, like reflect back on where I went wrong throughout the year and how I can improve my journalism in the upcoming New Year. Each year I find that I experience learning of a different kind.  I ask myself the question while writing this BLOG: What is the my learning experience going to be in 2025?

 

• In 2023 my learning experience was the Writing about the Carrie Ann Bugden Story  It was recently suggested to me I should write a novel about this story. This however,  is something I will not do without discussing it with Carrie Ann first. However, if I did write a book about this, and if  it turned out to be a good seller, the profits from book sales could go to pay rent for her Wheelchair Accessible Apartment.  As she describes in her own words she needs this to achieve her goal of someday moving back to Halifax. This story taught me a lot about what disability inclusion can look like.
  
• In 2024 my learning experience was around How Social prescriptions work  and learning about Social prescribing organizations. Also from fall of 2023 till June of 2024 I got to put this experience to the test participating in the work of The All Together Link project and this other side of this learning experience was my opportunity to go to the Social Prescribing Conference in Toronto  

Anyway regarding what is to come on my BLOG in 2025, the first thing I want to say is with $1,005 per month, now being the standard household rate, this is still not enough to live on. Further to that other polices under the Employment Support and Income Assistance program in Nova Scotia still encourage things like Living in poverty and Social Isolation. Also as the DSP program remains unchanged, I will continue to, through my BLOG, fight the Nova Scotia Government for policy changes and solutions. Also, I will continue to use my BLOG to advocate for a Social Prescribing Organization to get up and running here in Halifax.

 

Will 2025 bring any surprises about,  or resulting from the work of my BLOG? It is a wait and see thing.    

Stay Tuned to see everything to come!