Nova Scotia Income Assistance... Furious >:(

[Paxton]

DH has a job, but he's working at McDonald's and every paycheck its the struggle of, shall we save all this for rent or shall we buy food so we don't starve to death? Most often than not, we end up getting so little groceries that we're basically starving in the end anyways. We spent 100$ last paycheck for groceries and that's supposed to last us for an entire month. And we're still going to be about 2 or 3 hundred short for rent, so we'll have to call my dad for help On top of that, I don't have any clothes of my own (loong story) so I've been wearing DH's clothing for the past 4 or 5 monthes.

We had applied for Income Assistance, 4 monthes ago, and just as we got approved, DH lost his job (he had been working at a theatre). So they told us, OH WELL, since he lost his job you can't have it anymore, you have to wait for 6 months to re-apply.

That doesn't make any sense, because we'd need it even more with DH not working. We still have 2 months we have to wait, but it's getting trying. As selfish as this may make me sound, but I can't keep forgoing food in lieu of rent. It's bad for us because it can't be healthy to just not eat, or eat just one meal a day, and it deffinately can not be healthy for The Child.

See 2nd post for continuation...

 

[Paxton]

Just doing some research on the subject, re-reading the Assistance Act and I discovered... she LIED!! o_o It's not 6 months, the Act says we only had to wait 6 WEEKS!

Definately going to call and apply on Monday.

....I can't BELIEVE she liiiiied...
*totally flabbergasted*

Why would she do that???

 

[RedString]

Because she works for the government! They're all really trained monkeys you know; they dont REALLY know anything, they just push buttons to give you pre-recorded answers. But I hear you. Oh sweet g-bus, do I hear you.

 

[cinnamongirl]

Paxton, the one thing I learned this year, is that the Canadian government couldn't give a rat's ass if u and ur baby were homeless and starving to death! I've personally been on a letter-writing mission against our stupid "leaders"...obviously, I have gotten nowhere. And they don't care. I told numerous gov't employees our situation, and that we faced being homeless with a 1 month old in November...do they give a shit? Nope, as long as they have their fancy houses and gas guzzling imported vehicles!

I feel for u darling...I really do. I hope u get the help u need. It's such a shitty spot to be in when u know that u can't afford even the most basic necessities! We've gone hungry some too, and I always worry about Peanut, but things are gonna get better for us...they'd better!

 

[tasha41]

Call your local city councillor or MPP and see if they'll help you out. I have had fantastic experiences with the city councillors in my neighbourhood. Try to find one of the NDP politicians from your area to help you out or to point you in the right direction In my experience, they will work the hardest to "fight for you" when you're in a rough position like this.

If that's the same as EI, you should expect to see your $$ in 6-8 weeks from your application date, and you will receive back payments for that time. I know it's not help really but after you have the baby you will be eligible for UCCB and CTB (I think my abbreviations are right there!).. do you also get GST cheques?

I worked as much as I could when I was pregnant up until 37 weeks. My personal income is about $15K per year (made working at McDonald's!) and I receive $208 biweekly from EI, about $425/month from UCCB & CTB, $150 every 3 months from GST cheques, and Ontario also offers another thing that I've just applied for and I'm waiting for that comes out monthly I believe to help offset costs of childcare- BUT you can get it even if you're at home with the child.

It's impossible to find all the information on the internet I swear so you really need to find somebody in Nova Scotia in a similar situation to you that can tell you about what they get.

In Ontario (just so you can sort of see how it works, I don't know how much it is in Nova Scotia), "welfare" or Ontario Works as it's called is about $308/month for 1 parent and 1 child if you don't need $$ for rent; and if you do need rent money I think it's about $1000/month, there are subsidized housing opportunities (I know the openings aren't always there)... your wages count towards your eligibility for Ontario Works but none of your tax benefits do! You can even qualify for OW if you have a mortgage and one vehicle.

You can download the information for OW on the Ontario website; so I'm sure something similar is available there!



Have you joined all the formula websites' baby club things? They send out some awesome freebies..
Pampers sends you coupons every couple of months, I just got some for $4 off, $2 off, etc.
save.ca has good coupons,
Huggies coupons are everywhere.. I have TONS and I could send you some in the mail if it would help.
If you call Johnsons they will send you coupons also; I got a coupon for a free replacement product (bought a $8.99 thing of Desitin with it!) and I got 2 $1 off coupons.

Use coupons in combination with sales also!!