One of my children is moving and we ended up having to return to Ontario Works because my husband has not found an apprenticeship as of yet. The rent is too expensive for a family of 4. We now get 1304 a month. 702 for groceries, 602 for basic needs. Our rent is 846 plus hydro 40-50 a month depending on how hot it is to raise the usage on our fan.
They also are recovering an overpayment which takes 5% of our income or 65.20 before we even get started.
Today I asked for some more bus tickets for 3 doctor's appointments that I need to go to. My husband decided to hand the phone to me and she told me that she didn't really need/want to speak to me ( I can't remember for sure which word she used) but okay. She then said she would give me the tickets but that I shouldn't make a habit of it. That I should budget better. I told her that I budget as best I can considering I have to deduct rent from part of our basic needs budget which is meant to be for food and hydro. She said just like when I go grocery shopping I have to budget, I need to budget for my bus fare. This mass number of doctor's appointments wasn't expected. I thought I'd be seeing my doctor last month after I finished the intake but it was another appointment after that.
I was so angry and embarrassed that I said then I guess I just won't go anywhere and I hung up on her. When we got home hubby called again and she said that we could have continued to talk if I hadn't hung up on her. She wasn't talking to me, she was talking AT me. I am a parent I know what a lecture is.
When you are on a disability deferral, it's like you don't exist. Your name is there, you get a drug benefit and emergency dental as well as vision care, but you get nothing else. No buspass, no haircut nothing. I have been inside my house because we can't afford bus fare for me for 4 yrs, I've gone out a few times, but it's always created a hard spot because of transportation costs for tickets. Having spent this much time away from other people I now find I don't like to talk to people I don't know, I don't want to go out much but make myself because I know it would just be worse if I didn't, and I grow weary of the four walls.
I could get a buspass if doctor needs to see me frequently but not if I get prescribed exercise or getting out to keep from getting full blown anxiety issues. I guess I'll never understand how the system works. Or perhaps I should say I understand too well how the system DOESN'T work.
