Kendall Worth on his hope to work with Premier Tim Houston and Minister Karla MacFarlane on making things better for Nova Scotians who experience living in poverty.
The Disability Rights Coalition and its allies will be holding a rally at noon on Friday, August 13th outside the Provincial Legislature. The rally will demand that whatever Party forms government end the warehousing of persons with disabilities in segregated institutions and provide support for all persons with disabilities to live with dignity in the community.
A new report by the Disability Rights Coalition shows that earlier commitments to do away with large institutions and provide supports for community-based living are being abandoned. It’s not too late to turn things around though.
Kendall Worth hears that the welfare transformation project at Community Services is starting up again, and people in his community have lots of questions.
Media release: Wellness Within: An Organization for Health and Justice is calling on the Nova Scotia Department of Community Services to follow British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, PEI and most recently, Newfoundland and Labrador, in ending the discriminatory and racist practice of issuing birth alerts for “at risk” parents and their babies.
Kendall Worth profiles Nathan (not his real name), who tells Kendall about his tiny income assistance budget, his loneliness and his fragile mental health.
Kendall Worth meets up with Julie, who is on income assistance and talks about how caseworkers basically control your life. “Julie was even told to keep the receipts of everything she spent so at her income assistance intake interview the intake worker can determine the money she had saved in her bank account was spent reasonably.”
Art Fisher is the executive director of the non-profit Family Service Association of Western Nova Scotia. On Tuesday he appeared in front of a virtual Standing Committee of Community Services to speak about affordable housing and COVID-19. He made some excellent points, which is why we are publishing a transcript of his introductory remarks.
People on income assistance feel that if they had been in a relationship of some sort during the pandemic it would have made a world of difference in their lives. One obstacle is right in the Community Services policy manual, writes Kendall Worth.
Kendall Worth interviews Janice, a long time Nova Scotia ACORN member who lives on income assistance. Janice describes her experiences of being an ACORN member as nothing but positive.