Coffee Talk

My dear friend Jen (and partner in the Welfare Food Challenge) joined me this morning to help me polish off my remaining coffee, and digest a bit of what we've both been experiencing of hunger and learning about poverty.   We both agreed that there was a litany of emotions, thoughts and questions that came to us.   And here with thought we'd just be buckling down and eating lentils for a week.

We wondered on what the objective of income assistance in BC really was.  Is it in fact punitive rather than supportive?  Aimed at making people feel uncomfortable with their situation?  Desperate to change it?  Would it not be more kind and meaningful to provide enough financial support for someone to feel nourished and confident?  Does that not make someone more employable?  Even better, a stronger citizen?

I have some real follow up to do on this years challenge, in a way I did not the last time around.  After attending tomorrow's Poverty Reduction Workshop, I'll be tracking down some answers.  First, what is the true cost of my week's groceries when I return to an unbound purse?  Second, how does the cost of living breakdown (which determined Vancouver's $21 stipend) compare for Kimberley life?

I should note that there is something you can do (dear reader).  Raise the Rates, the organization hosting the Welfare Food Challenge, is asking folks to sign a petition requesting the welfare rate be raised to reflect the true cost of living in BC.  Not a bad start.

-S