By Kendall Worth!
The person in this story, chose this name when I explained why I do not not use the real names of first voice.
Jacki-ka chose this name because no one will recognize a made-up name, especially people who believe the myths that create stigma about him, and who resent that he is “on the system” and, who might want to “track him down”. Jacki-ka told me that he heard about my BLOG from 2 different community contacts. When we met, for the first time, I showed him my BLOG. Then he came back to me, (we have now met 3 times) and said he saw 3 recent posts that he can relate to. I will link the posts he referred to, and more about his personal situation below.
Jacki-ka currently receives the $1005.00 a month Standard Household rate. He also receives the disability supplement of $318.00 a month. He receives $81.00 a month for 3 special diets, and the $40.00 a month telephone allowance. His budget totals up to $1444.00 a month. His rent is $700.00 a month with power included. Subtracting $700.00 from $1444.00 = $744.00 left in his budget. Readers you may first think he has a sweet deal, with rent paid, and money left over but really it is not a sweet deal. Out of the $744.00 he has remaining in his budget, $81.00 goes directly on his special diet needs = $663.00 left. Then, his current phone plan is $55.00 which is $15.00 above and beyond the allotted $40.00 for that special needs item = $608.00.
He is not eligible for a rental subsidy, because his power is included in his rent, and he rents a basement apartment in a private home. He was told that these reasons exclude him from the program.
Out of the remaining $608.00 a month, he must purchase groceries, personal hygiene items, clothing from time to time, etc. He also has a dog, which he needs as a therapy dog. According to section 8.2.15 of the Employment Support and Income Assistance Policy manual, someone on income assistance can get a special needs allowance for a guide dog. However, Jacki-ka's caseworker tells him that, because he needs this service for mental health purposes, and, the fact that "therapy dogs" are not yet classed as service dogs, (like those for the blind or that detect seizures etc.) his caseworker will not qualify him for an allowance for his therapy dog. Jacki-ka tells me he tried appealing this through the ESIA appeal process and it got denied through the appeal hearing.
So with Jacki-ka’s grocery bill including dog food and other dog treats, in addition to buying groceries for himself, plus buying personal hygiene products on that same day, most of his $608.00 gets eaten up in one shopping trip on income assistance cheque day. After his shopping, he has enough to get a cab home from the Grocery store and then almost nothing following that.
More to his story:
First Jacki-ka was telling me he can relate to this recent post.
He said he lives like many income assistance recipients where he feels he has to keep living his life in his comfort zone, because he comes from a family who behaves like they have no respect for his invisible disabilities of dyslexia, anxiety and depression. As a kid growing up, his father was always a strong believer in self sufficiency, and his father strongly believes that being on welfare is a step toward not achieving self sufficiency, in life. Jacki-ka told me that his father never respected the fact that he was diagnosed with invisible disabilities in his childhood.
Second, Jacki-ka pointed out this post in which he told me he has 100% agreement. He was on income assistance for 14 years, and has lived in his current apartment for those same 14 years, and his rent went up from $500.00 to $700 in 2020 just before COVID Lock-Downs and Restrictions began. He also had a dog this whole time, but for the first 5 years out of those 14 years, had a different dog. From his personal experiences, he can definitely understand how living on income assistance for all these years can only cause further mental health issues, and bring people to the point of ll the things pointed out in the linked post.
Third Jacki-ka referred to this post. Then, he said , “Kendall, reflecting back to my late teenage years and early 20’s, I once had a life where I was more physically active.” Now, his only physical activity is his occasional walking down to Souls Harbour to socialize with others. He told me that his apartment is located along the route of the Bluenose Marathon, and every year it depresses him to see that big social group of better off people, running by his place like they are one big big happy family/social group.
I want to end this post by saying that Jacki-ka and many others in Halifax’s large community of people-living-in-poverty deserve better. Lets hope my overall advocacy can provide a better future for us all.
Comments
Post a Comment