s COVID-19 cases rise, hundreds of underhoused Nova Scotians are unable to practice social distancing. Nova Scotia ACORN is calling on the City of Halifax to open up empty hotel rooms to people in need of proper housing during the pandemic.
Just want to share this Facebook post written by a mother who, with help from Adsum for Women and Children, is about to move into one of Adsum’s apartment units. This after 9 months of couch surfing, and despite the horrible pandemic that makes everything more difficult.
A quick story on the lack of support for people on social assistance during this godawful pandemic. “I have multiple chronic illnesses that put me in the high risk category from COVID-19. Not just from the illness itself, but also, if I do get sick it will likely worsen, maybe permanently, all the illnesses I’m already struggling with.”
Kendall Worth on how the Easter weekend will be lonely for all this year, not just the very poor. “During this Easter let’s think about ways we can move forward after these public health restrictions can be lifted. Let’s bring the community together to include both those who are financially better off and the poor, and let’s get rid of stigma,” he writes.
Howard Ramos, Alan Walks and Jill Grant on Canada’s rising neighborhood and income inequalities, further exposed through the COVID-19 crisis. “A better policy would be to immediately build social housing and affordable rental units. Governments should also continue pandemic-induced policies like limiting loopholes for eviction from commercial and private rental housing.”
Kendall talks with William, a man who is poor and living with anxiety and depression, about both the practical and mental health challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A grim story with a happy ending. Gary Aitchison, the senior who lived for years in an apartment riddled with bedbugs and cockroaches, is thankful for the support of all those NS Advocate readers who wrote him letters of encouragement, and to those who donated to help him out.
Kendall Worth reports on the pressure to return to rural Nova Scotia experienced by many income assistance recipients who call Halifax home. That’s not always a good idea, says Kendall, and the stigma of poverty is often behind those pressures.
Lisa Cameron:”Waiting for the provincial government to take appropriate action, local housing advocacy groups are promoting a city-wide rental strike starting this Wednesday.”
To expect low-wage earners currently facing income-loss to pay rent is not only unreasonable, but also dangerous, writes Lisa Cameron.