Poverty activist and frequent contributor Kendall Worth writes about several couples who weren’t receiving the full shelter allowance they were entitled to, how it was discovered, and how it was fixed. News you can use.
The government’s decision, to not strengthen family life for vulnerable children and youth through core investments, will significantly impact our province’s child protective services, writes Alec Stratford, executive director of the NS College of Social Workers in this excellent piece on this week’s provincial budget.
This year’s provincial budget does very little for people on income assistance. The government keeps Income assistance rates the same, while it offers a few crumbs to point to when criticized.
A coalition of anti poverty activists and community groups wants premier Stephen McNeil to understand that current income assistance rates are really inadequate. And they need your help in order to get that message across.
“I felt the strong need to write this post because of my frustration with this unresponsiveness from my worker, and I wondered how many other people on Income Assistance experience the same thing.” An income assistance recipient writes on calling over and over and about the stress of never getting that much awaited call back.
Kendall Worth about the people on income assistance he encounters here in in Halifax who worry about free bus passes becoming available this spring. “Don’t’ get me wrong. I do agree that there is a strong need for all income assistance recipients, and anyone living in poverty for that matter, to have access to free bus passes. I know quite a few people who are excited about the free bus passes becoming available. But for some it will mean $78 less each month for rent or groceries,” he writes.
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.”
Anti-poverty activist and Nova Scotia Advocate contributor Tim Blades addresses protesters in front of the Nova Scotia Legislature on Tuesday February 27, on behalf of the Child Support Clawback Action Group he co-chairs. “Single parents are still being forced to interact with an abusive ex due to the child support clawback policy.”
Kendall Worth is a tireless anti-poverty activist who lives with disabilities and tries to make ends meet on income assistance. This is the speech he delivered yesterday afternoon on the occasion of the Nova Scotia Rise Up rally at Province House.
Meet Sophia (not her real name), who lives with a painful illness, raises a son who lives with developmental disabilities, and does all that on a $156 monthly personal allowance, after rent and power bills are paid, and an arrears to Community Services is dealt with. Please let that sink in. $156 per month. At the bottom of the story we tell you what you can do to help change this.