Petition for People with Disabilities in BC

This petition is to raise shelter & support allowances for people with disabilities in British Columbia & to raise the non-penalized income a person with disabilities can earn each month.

• Target: Premier, Province of British Columbia
• Sponsored by: Students with Disabilities Committee, Capilano Students' Union

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/bcdisability/

In B.C., a person who is designated as having a disability by the provincial government receives a monthly allowance of $375 towards rent and $531 for all other living expenses. People on disability income, who are able to work, are allowed to earn up to $500.00/month without deduction to their support allowance. Amounts earned over $500.00 in any given month are deducted from the next month's allowance. The last increase to the shelter allowance was $50.00 in 2007; meanwhile, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, rent for an average bachelor apartment in the Vancouver area has increased to upwards of $811.00. With only $375.00 provided for shelter, people on disability allowance are forced to use their support allowance to cover rent, effectively decreasing the amount they have for all other expenses including amenities, clothing and food.
 
Due to the rising cost of living in B.C., and in an effort to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, we the undersigned call on the B.C. Provincial Government to raise disability benefit rates. We strongly support minimum increases of  $100.00 for shelter allowances; $150.00 for support allowances; and $100.00 for the amount people with disabilities are entitled to earn each month without deduction to their benefits. Increasing the allowable income limit will enable people with disabilities to better care for themselves and to improve their quality of life, while giving them a stronger sense of independence.

Contact Sean Stewart (Students with Disabilities Liaison) for more information: abilities@csu.bc.ca

Comments

[J]

Hi, I'm on disability for being mentally ill with post traumatic stress disorder from running in a burning building. I lived on the streets for 17 months without a welfare cheque because I had my wallet stolen. It took me that long to get all my ID before the government would cut me a cheque. While I was on the streets, I slept on roof tops, abandoned cars, an abandoned train, in the woods without a tent, and in puddles of mud and sometimes shelters. The shelters were worse then sleeping outside. I had one person help get me on my feet sort of say. I managed to get on the welfare system to live in a lot of undesirable places. I've lived in hell holes I wouldn't ask an animal to live in since. Buildings with crackheads coming to my door at all hours of the day and night. Prostitutes outside my window. A bullet hole through my window, bed bugs, a landlord I had to sue, and has since been dismissed, and I still haven't had a chance to replace my furniture. I seeked help and received non from the medical and social assistance. I went into hospital for being suicidal during christmas that year and was arrested and thrown in a psych ward for 2 weeks. 6 months I later went into hospital with an anxiety attack. A police officer charged me with disturbing the peace which was a trumped up charge, because I wasn't loud and I was in hospital for an anxiety attack and was self admitted. They threw me in a psych ward again. Straight into solitary confinement. They stripped me of my clothes. In there I was so bored I started doing push ups and sit ups. Stretching, anything to pass the time until they'd released me. Instead they came at me with a needle and tried to sedate me. So I told them they didn't have the resources to inject me unwilling with a drug of their choice after wrongly be put inside the psych ward. I had a stalemate with 15 police officers and 4 security guards for 3 hours, while I was cornered in solitary. Then I was attacked and sedated, released 5 days after. After that incident, I was put on disability for PTSD. I kept moving into one bad situation after another since then because of the amount I'm given per month. Do you have any idea what type of housing you find for $800 a month total to live off of? My food costs me $250 a month. My rent is $375 to live with 2 roommates. How am I supposed to recover with life like this? I'm constantly sleep deprived, and life doesn't appear to be getting any better. In fact it's looking worse. Rent for a bachelor apartment in this town is $600 a month for anywhere livable. I can't sleep at night because of recurring bad dreams, and constant stress of how I'm going to pay for food. Do you have any idea how much hell my life has been? I have to move for the 8th time in under 2 years. Because of the places I can afford. They're deplorable, filled with bugs, drugs, and horrible roommates. I've had to live in extremely hostile places where fear is a normal survival tool. I wouldn't ask a dog to live where I have. Now my concern, is what the hell shit hole am I moving into next. Who is going to screw me, and how. This isn't life, this hell. I wouldn't have even been in this position if the system worked. It's a fucking failure. I've lived through unusual cruelty that's unfathomable and despicable. I've payed taxes since I was 6 years old. I've worked 2 to 3 jobs my whole life. This isn't life. This is a fucking insult. Food prices keep going up, rent keeps going up. The wages stay the same. If you want people to get off disability and welfare, raise the rates. Increase cognitive therapy. Increase training incentives. I can't even find a part time job in this town. Believe me I've looked. How could I even hold a job at the moment when I'm living so desperately? I'm forced to be creative to survive. I'm open to abuse regularly. FUCK YOU FOR ALL THE SHIT I'VE BEEN THROUGH BECAUSE YOU DIDN"T RAISE SOCIAL ASSISTANCE WITH INFLATION! FUCK EVERY ONE OF YOU POLITICIANS MAKING $150000 A YEAR. FUCK YOU ALL AND MAY YOU BURN IN HELL!

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