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Alice's Story

52-year old Alice* lives near Bancroft, Ontario, outside of Peterborough.  She lives 42 km from town, so needs to have a car to get to the grocery store, work, and, during the tough months like September (back to school) and December, her local food bank.

Alice is married, and her husband is very ill; since 1983 he has suffered from a plethora of maladies, including a chronic lung disorder, angina, a hernia, epileptic seizures, and, as a result, severe depression.   He has also had 2 strokes.  With 8 children, Alice struggles each day to keep the heat on and put food on the table.  To make her life even more challenging, her 22 year-old daughter Lisa* is severely mentally challenged; she has the mental capacity of a 2 year-old and requires constant supervision and care. 

“She was born completely healthy,” Alice comments, “but when she was 4 months old she had a whooping cough needle which left her with a high fever, lead to epileptic seizures, and, worst of all, brain damage.”

Alice is surprisingly calm when I speak with her, despite having it tougher than most. 

“I do the best I can,” she says.  “I have to instill the right values in my children.  I don’t want them thinking that money only comes from the government cheques in the mailbox.”

So, to teach her children this important lesson, Alice drives to the McDonald’s the next town over and works when her other children are home from school and can care for their sister and father. She certainly doesn’t do it for the money – minimum wage, of which most is clawed back her husband’s government pension cheque.

Alice’s gross family income is around $2,200 a month, most of which comes from her husband’s government health pension and her daughter’s ODSP.  In the house there’s Alice and her husband, their daughter Lisa, 5 other children (her two eldest are at college now), and Alice’s grandson who came to stay so he could escape family violence.  Mortgage for her CMHD house—which she has had for 17 years and will own in 8 more—is roughly $420 a month.  After paying all her utility costs, what is left is spent on gas for the car to get her to work; take her husband to the doctor and do some shopping; second-hand clothing (her children are all different shapes, sizes and ages, so hand-me-downs are difficult); new shoes; incontinence diapers for Lisa; and, of course, food.  Luxuries like Christmas or birthday presents, coordinated sports or other activities for the children, and field trips are just not possible for Alice and her family.  

“One of my sons has Attention Deficit Disorder,” says Alice.  “I can’t afford to pay for sport programs for him, so I keep him busy any way I know how so that he doesn’t get into trouble; painting a room that doesn’t even need painting, fishing and gardening in the summer.” 

Alice, somehow, finds time to keep a small garden where she grows vegetables for the family and cans them to last the winter, when possible. 

“My husband was ill last year though, so I spent a lot of time with him at the hospital.  The garden went to seed and we didn’t reap any harvest.  What a shame.”

Alice is lucky to have a caring neighbour—a man who has been like a grandfather to her children over the last 17 years—who is kind enough to lend her a hundred dollars or two some months when she faces unexpected expenses like car repairs, hydro equal-billing shortfalls, or trips to the hospital for her husband. 

“There’s no such thing as savings,” says Alice, “I don’t know what I’m going to do when he passes on and I am stuck for money. " 

Lisa’s ODSP payments barely cover the cost of her food, clothing, share of house costs and diapers.  When she has a tantrum and breaks things, or soils her bed or the couch, those costs aren’t covered.  

When the previous provincial government came into power and introduced their medical welfare program, they required Alice to have a lien on her family home. 

“There was no way I was going to let that happen” Alice says with a laugh, “I worked 60 hours a week at Tim Horton’s so that I didn’t have to give up any of the ownership I’d worked so hard for. The federal government gave me the chance to own my home, and then the provincial government did their best to try and take it away from me.  I just wouldn’t let them.  I need to have something I can leave to my children; there certainly won’t be any money.” 

* Names have been changed to protect client confidentiality

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