The Community Resource Centre of North and Centre Wellington is hosting a one day workshop series aimed at helping individuals ‘live well with little cash’. Workshops will be offered in the areas of food, tenant rights, energy conservation and more.

The event will take place in Fergus at Bethel Baptist Church, 675 Victoria Terrace, from 10am to 3pm on June 3rd.

For event information and how to register please click HERE.

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has released a new interactive web documentary on mental illness and homelessness in Canada.

The documentary focuses on the reality of homelessness in Moncton, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver by tracking participants of the At Home study (a research initiative led by the Mental Health Commission of Canada).

The filmmakers chronicle the Housing First approach – giving people a home and then focusing on treatment. What are the social, human and financial consequences of providing a roof and services to those who, struggling with mental illness, live on the streets?

Please click HERE to view the documentary.

For more information on the At Home study please click HERE.

Background: 

In April 2011, they changed the list of medical conditions that people must have to be eligible for SDA. The condition “pre-diabetes” was removed from the list, and only “diabetes” was kept. Since that change, it seemed like people who have pre-diabetes were no longer eligible for SDA money to pay for the kinds of food they need to eat to help treat their pre-diabetes and help prevent them from developing diabetes.

Changes: 

In April 2012, the provincial government put out an Information Bulletin that says that people with pre-diabetes are, in fact, eligible for Special Diet. It says that the government includes pre-diabetes in its definition of diabetes.

This means that people with pre-diabetes can now receive a Special Diet Allowance. 

The Income Security Advocacy Centre has a full fact sheet on this issue that can be downloaded HERE.

Changing Directions, Changing Lives is the first Canadian mental health strategy. It represents a blueprint for change and provides six strategic directions to improve mental health care in Canada:

1. Promote mental health across the lifespan in homes, schools, and workplaces, and prevent mental illness and suicide wherever possible.
2. Foster recovery and well-being for people of all ages living with mental health problems and illnesses, and uphold their rights.
3. Provide access to the right combination of services, treatments, and supports when and where people need them.
4. Reduce disparities in risk factors and access to mental health services, and strengthen the response to the needs of diverse communities and Northerners.
5. Work with First Nations, Inuit, and Metis to address their mental health needs, acknowledging their distinct circumstances, rights and cultures.
6. Mobilize leadership, improve knowledge, and foster collaboration at all levels.

A summary of the strategy is available HERE.

The full strategy is available HERE.

On May 7, 2012, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives presented a brief to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. The brief focuses on several key policy changes in 2012 budget, notably to unemployment insurance; to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program; to the pension system.  The full brief can be downloaded HERE.

Key statistics:

• Canada has one of the highest proportions of low-wage workers (20.5%) in the OECD.
• An estimated 851,014 individuals accessed food banks across Canada in March 2011, an increase of 26% over the same month in 2008 before the recession hit.
• The poorest 20% of Canadian families saw their share of the earnings pie drop from 4.5% from the late 1970s, to 2.6% in the early 2000s. The richest 10% of families saw their earnings share grow from 23% to 29.5%.