This documentary looks at the relationship between poverty and health and HCAP's Special Needs campaign that is being used as a mobilizing tool in the context of the growing gap between rich and poor.
Produced by the Halifax Coalition Against Poverty, Praxis Media Productions and CKDU FM.
music by Jon Cleveland
Up to $150 per month is available under the Special Needs portion of Nova Scotia's welfare regulations. Under these regulations there is money available for special dietary needs, transportation, eye glasses, dental care and child care. All of these things should be covered by welfare if a doctor, dietician or nurse practitioner writes a letter to welfare explaining what you need. The government creates huge barriers for welfare recipients to access special needs monies. Organizations such as the Halifax Coalition Against Poverty are now working to dismantle those barriers knowing that all welfare recipients are entitled to more money.
People living on social assistance receive grossly inadequate incomes that won't protect their health or their dignity. Welfare rates in Nova Scotia have decreased by 20 % on average since 1989. This money has been transferred from the poorest segments of our population to the richest. The special diet clinics are a modest way of taking back some of what people were entitled to.
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