Anonymous

Please share what you would like people to know about your experience accessing or relying on the Disability Assistance Benefit.

Thanks to a large sum of money in the bank, I was able to remain safely housed for a while because this money supplemented the difference between the pathetically low disability assistance amount and what it costs to live.

I was on the subsidized housing list for years but, as they boldly proclaim on their website, they don’t guarantee that you will EVER get into subsidized housing. As my savings began to run low, this caused me to live in a state of extreme stress and dread, on top of my medical conditions.

Fortunately, I knew someone with some land who would allow me to live in a tent on his property during the warm season. I told him I would pay him for the use of his land plus the electricity I would need to run my medical equipment etc. Being a nice guy, he said he didn’t want to charge me anything.
Imagine my embarrassment as a Canadian, when I had to explain to him that after insufficient government assistance had pushed me into homelessness, they will then reduce my benefit by $375 if I am “not paying rent” any more.

There are so many more horror stories but I will stop with this one.

Could we demand, please, that the BC government explain how a medically disabled person is supposed to survive on assistance that equals an average one bedroom apartment’s monthly rent?

What do you dream support for people with disabilities could look like?

 I don’t know why building co-ops has become a thing of the past. Many people with disabilities would love to live in a mixed community, Or any kind of community at all.