Kendall Worth on why for many people in income assistance an invite to a school reunion is not a joyful thing. Especially if they used to live in rural Nova Scotia, where issues of mental health and invisible disabilities are not always understood.
Thandiwe McCarthy on going to school while Black in New Brunswick. “No one ever explained anything to me, I was always ordered. I never got the chance to be a student because all the teachers viewed me as a threat.”
Kendall Worth reports how at times people on Income Assistance who have involuntary body behaviours like fidgeting or talking to themselves but are just minding their own business are being bothered by police or private security guards.”I recently learned of three people who had this happen to them in Halifax. As you will see, one of those three incidents ended up badly,” he writes.
Raymond Sheppard continues his investigation of an Afrocentric counselling practice, what that entails and why it is urgently needed. “African Nova Scotian history has never been seriously discussed in the therapeutic process and therefore has denied African Nova Scotians an understanding of our identity. Counsellors must be aware that the effects of slavery, racism, hate and marginalization are still a part of who we are as a people.”
Poverty advocate Kendall Worth asks his friends and acquaintances about being grateful despite all the problems poverty brings. He gets some amazing responses, and learns how people are teaming up to support one another.
One of the many hard things about having to depend on social assistance is the stigma. People often assume you’re lazy, even though invisible disabilities stop you from working. The other day poverty advocate Kendall Worth talked with one such person, who got verbally attacked by her fellow passengers on the bus.
Poverty activist Kendall Worth met up with a young woman o social assistance who lives with invisible disabilities. Family and co-workers don’t understand what that means, and that makes for a hard life.
Frequent contributor Tim Blades on living in poverty, his struggle with illness and mental health issues, and the urgent need to be compassionate and open with one another. “Now I want to delete that last paragraph. My heart is racing just from typing that last paragraph. While I want to be safe and delete that last paragraph, If I let go of that secret, it’s just one less thing for me to hold onto.”
Late last week Nova Scotia’s auditor general reported that the province lacks a plan for delivering mental health services to all Nova Scotians, and that standards for wait times aren’t being met. New contributor Jessica Briand has seen it all. “In the last seven years I have seen eight different mental health professionals. I’ve witnessed first-hand the flaws in mental healthcare in Nova Scotia,” she writes.
Kendall Worth with a short and sad story about a woman living with developmental disabilities and mental health issues who lost her job and is dreading the day she will have to apply for social assistance.