KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – I want to start this story off with saying that people on income assistance respect what Remembrance Day is about. They agree with soup kitchens and food banks being closed on that day.
That said, Remembrance Day is still a day of lonesomeness and social isolation for income assistance recipients. Most tell me they will not go to the ceremonies because of social anxiety issues they have and how any holiday amplifies those issues. Also, many of them do not like crowds.
The day after Remembrance Day, November 12, reminds us that the Christmas season is just a few weeks away. On December 1st, that is when the bomb of the social isolation feeling really hits income assistance recipients.
So they try to get through the rest of November trying not to think about this.
This article here, How income assistance recipients stumble through the month of December, talks about this.
Earlier I wrote how we need something here like a project in Ontario that lets people who live in poverty make new friends.
See also: Kendall Worth on friendship, poverty, and feeling discouraged
So I say let’s start finding solutions for social isolation.
Kendall Worth is an award-winning anti-poverty activist who lives with disabilities and tries to make ends meet on income assistance.
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