View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
Adventurer

Joined: 28 Jan 2006
|
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:08 pm Post subject: Welfare cheques don't pay the rent, say recipients |
|
|
Story Tools: E-MAIL | PRINT | Text Size: S M L XL | REPORT TYPO | SEND YOUR FEEDBACK
Welfare cheques don't pay the rent, say recipients
Last Updated: Monday, April 2, 2007 | 9:30 AM MT
CBC News
People on welfare are calling on the provincial government to boost welfare payments, saying the current levels aren't enough to afford rent in Alberta's booming economy.
Bonnie Jacobs's welfare check is $500 a month, while the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Edmonton is more than $650. She says she doesn't know how to find a home on so little.
"And I feel very naive because I don't know. This is the first time I've ever been homeless," she said.
Jacobs is one of nearly 100 people who go to the Bissell Centre in Edmonton every month to get help with housing. The centre and Boyle Street Community Services offer a workshop to help the people having difficulty finding a place to live.
Stephanie Burlie, a housing worker with the centre, calls the current income support levels "very discouraging."
"These incomes are not enough and they don't meet the needs of families with inflation, the cost of living. It just doesn't equal out."
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2007/04/02/income-alberta.html
[How does that compare to payments in the U.S.?] |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Octavius Hite

Joined: 28 Jan 2004 Location: Househunting, looking for a new bunker from which to convert the world to homosexuality.
|
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:16 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Welfare in Alberta? Are you f*cking kidding me? Get a job, there is no excuse in that province.
On my leftist note, my family own dozensof low income apartments on the East coast of Canada and when the want to up the rent the just go to the welfare office and get approval. The rent cheque never goes to the families, it goes directly to the landlord lest it get spent on cigerttes and booze. |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Octavius Hite

Joined: 28 Jan 2004 Location: Househunting, looking for a new bunker from which to convert the world to homosexuality.
|
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
And don't give me that there's not enough cheap housing. When I went to Uni and had to pay for it myself I had 4 people living in a one room in Ottawa! You do what you have to do to make ends meet, personally I think we should start a network where people on welfare can meet and share accomidations in places with tight housing markets. |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
|
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:44 am Post subject: |
|
|
Octavius Hite wrote: |
Welfare in Alberta? Are you f*cking kidding me? Get a job, there is no excuse in that province.
|
On my last trip home, in November, I saw many young men begging on Whyte ave. I sure hope that they don't get a cent of public funds. They had working arms and legs, which in Alberta is good for 20$/hour these days.
My brother, who works in the 'patch, makes a hobby out of getting people like that good jobs. They never last. Some people are skids cause that is where they want to be. The ones who are just down on their luck require very little assistance to get back on their feet. |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Adventurer

Joined: 28 Jan 2006
|
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
BJWD wrote: |
Octavius Hite wrote: |
Welfare in Alberta? Are you f*cking kidding me? Get a job, there is no excuse in that province.
|
On my last trip home, in November, I saw many young men begging on Whyte ave. I sure hope that they don't get a cent of public funds. They had working arms and legs, which in Alberta is good for 20$/hour these days.
My brother, who works in the 'patch, makes a hobby out of getting people like that good jobs. They never last. Some people are skids cause that is where they want to be. The ones who are just down on their luck require very little assistance to get back on their feet. |
I do support their being shelters for those people, and if a woman is a single parent then I don't want the children penalized. Overall, though, you must be looking for work. |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
|
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:54 pm Post subject: |
|
|
No disagreement from me. Especially about single moms. But able bodied young men, well, they can get a job. |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|