Surviving on $26.74 in Vancouver: Stories from the Edge

  Surviving on $26.74 in Vancouver: Stories from the Edge

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

This morning I saw a job posting:
$26.74 an hour — part-time — years of experience and education required.
And it hit me. Again.
How broken this system is.

Let’s break this down:
Rent in Vancouver for a 1-bedroom averages $2,500+.
On $26.74/hour part-time? You’re lucky to make $2,100/month — before taxes.

What happens when you’re a parent, or a senior, or someone drowning in student debt?
What happens when you’re just trying to survive in a city built for the rich, supported by a system designed to profit off the rest of us?

Let me introduce you to some imaginary—yet painfully real—voices from Vancouver’s underbelly:

---

Maria, 38, Social Worker
“I did everything right. I got my degree, then my master’s. I just wanted to help people. Now I’m $80K in debt, working part-time for less than a living wage. My teenage son works evenings to help with groceries. That’s not okay.”

Raymond, 67, Retired Construction Worker
“I built condos I could never afford. Now I rent a moldy suite from someone who wasn’t born when I started pouring concrete. My pension’s a joke. I spent a lifetime working and still ended up poor.”

Ayesha, 24, Immigrant Caregiver
“They needed caregivers, so I came. I clean toilets, change diapers, and sleep in a shared room. My degree doesn’t count here. I send money back home and eat rice every day.”

Lena, 52, Admin Assistant & Caregiver
“My daughter has a disability. I work two jobs. One’s just to keep the extended health plan. They want a degree for $26/hour part-time. Meanwhile, I skip meals to afford my daughter’s medicine.”

Jasmine, 17, High School Student
“My mom couldn’t afford rent anymore. I live on friends’ couches. I want to graduate, maybe be a writer. But how do you focus on homework when your stomach’s growling?”

---

This is Vancouver.
This is Canada.
And this is why we need to talk.

Our city is being polished and sold to the highest bidder while the people who actually make it run are being priced out, worn down, and erased from the narrative.

The industrial system demands productivity.
The education system promises mobility.
The bureaucracy wraps it all in red tape and polite language.

But who holds it all up?
Women. Children. Seniors. The poor. The invisible. The silenced.

It’s time we listened.
It’s time we questioned every job ad, every budget, every salary cap for CEOs of “non-profits” that do nothing for the people they claim to serve.
It’s time we told real stories.

If you see yourself in these voices, know that you are not alone.
And if you don’t — listen harder.

–
Tina Winterlik
aka Zipolita
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
#LivingWage #HousingCrisis #BCpoverty #RaiseTheRates #VoicesFromTheEdge

Raise the Rates” Rally – May 29, BC Legislature-Please Show Up!!

PLEASE – Show Up for a Friend Who Can’t. “Raise the Rates” Rally – May 29, BC Legislature

This is a plea.

Not a promotion. Not just another event.
This is about survival.

Thousands of people in B.C. with disabilities are trapped in poverty — not by choice, but by government policy.
They’re expected to live on $1535 a month – with rents often over $1500. They’re being forced to go on welfare first, before they can even access disability benefits — and still, those benefits leave people cold, hungry, and hopeless.

This rally isn’t optional. It’s urgent.

We know people won’t want to go.
It’s a Thursday.
It’s politics.
It’s easier to scroll past.

But we’re asking you to do what your disabled friend, neighbour, or family member can’t do:
Show up. Speak up. Stand up.

Because they can’t afford the ferry.
Because they’re sick.
Because they’re tired of screaming into the void.
Because they’ve been ignored for decades.

The Rally:
“Raise the Rates PWD Rally & DJ Chill”
When: Thursday, May 29, 1:00 PM
Where: BC Legislature, Victoria

MLAs from all parties have been invited. And yes, even John Rustad will be there — but we need people with real values to drown out the performative noise.

We don’t need more empty gestures — like Jagrup Brar’s welfare experiment 20 years ago on the Downtown Eastside. He lived it for a month, saw how brutal it was, and STILL — nothing changed. Now they’re making people jump through more hoops for less.

We need Elizabeth May. We need you.

We need the government to raise disability rates to the actual poverty line — MBM ($2066/month) or LICO ($2448/month).
Not cake crumbs. Not staged sympathy. Real change.

What to expect:

• Fierce speakers: advocates, PWDs, and allies
• A postcard campaign to Premier David Eby
• Music. Cake. Community.
• Resistance.

"Let them eat cake?" No. Let them LIVE.

If you’ve ever said you support disability rights — prove it.
Go.
If you can’t go, share this.
If you’ve ever wondered how you could make a difference — this is how.

Be there. For a friend who can’t.

—
Jeff Leggat & Disability Action of Canada
#RaiseTheRatesBC

To the Ones Who Can’t March: I See You

  To the Ones Who Can’t March: I See You.

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

I see you.

I see you hurting, exhausted, and just trying to survive — too tired, too poor, or too sick to come to the rally.
I see you wondering if it even matters, if anyone will ever really fight for us — or if it’s just more noise no one listens to.

You’re not alone. I feel the same way.

For over ten years, I’ve tried to get help. Real help. Dignified help. And it never came. All I got was judgment.

“It’s your fault,” they say.
“Your fault for working too hard.”
“Your fault for having a baby.”
“Your fault for being sick.”
“Your fault for saying no to Big Pharma, even though you saw what it did to your mother.”

They blame us for everything.

We’re punished for being too old to qualify for student jobs, but not old enough for a pension.
Punished for being born here, but not qualifying for the supports offered to newcomers.
Punished for not being able to prove we’re Métis, and not being First Nations either.
Punished for not dying, for staying alive, for “existing wrong.”

They say:

“We worked hard for our money — we’re not giving it to lazy losers who sit around all day.”

But they don’t see the truth:
We worked hard too. We still are. We survived trauma, illness, heartbreak, homelessness, and hunger.
And now we’re just asking to live with dignity — and they call that laziness?

This is why many of us don’t rally. Because we’re too busy just trying to breathe.

And yet, we have to keep trying.
Even if no one changes the rates.
Even if they don’t listen.
Even if they call us names.

Because someone out there might read this and realize they’re not alone.
And someone else might stop and finally understand that this system is broken, and it’s breaking us.

If you can’t march — I march with your voice in my heart.
If you can’t shout — I’ll write it for you.
If you can’t speak — I see you. I hear you. You matter.

---

#ISeeYou #EndPovertyBC #DisabilityJustice #WeDeserveBetter #ZipolitaSpeaks

COME TO RALLY!! End Forced Poverty

  End Forced Poverty: It's Time to Change B.C.'s Disability and Social Assistance System

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

In British Columbia, people with disabilities are being forced into poverty by government policy. To receive disability benefits, they must first endure the hardship of living on Social Assistance, which is far below the poverty line. This system is not only cruel — it's broken.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

• Social Assistance (Income Assistance) for a single person: $935/month
• Disability (PWD) support: $1,535/month or less, depending on circumstances
• Canada’s poverty lines for 2024:
  • MBM (Market Basket Measure): $2,066.88/month
  • LICO (Low Income Cut-Off): $2,448.33/month

This means even people who receive disability benefits are living $500–$900/month below the poverty line. And it’s even worse for those stuck on Social Assistance while waiting for PWD approval — many are homeless or living in unsafe, degrading conditions.

The System Is Designed to Fail

Before anyone can access disability supports in B.C., they must go through Income Assistance first. That means:

• Living on just a few hundred dollars a month
• Being unable to afford safe housing, decent food, or medical care
• Proving your suffering, over and over, through paperwork and assessments
• Facing wait times that stretch months or even years

This system deliberately traps people in poverty — all to prove they “deserve” help.

We Say: No More.

We’re calling for immediate changes:

1. End the requirement to go through Social Assistance before qualifying for Disability
2. Raise PWD and Social Assistance rates to match the poverty line (MBM or LICO)
3. Ensure access to safe, subsidized housing for all low-income and disabled individuals
4. Reform the application process to be trauma-informed, transparent, and dignified

Join The Rally May 29th!

BC Legislature 

We're rallying for change:

• Rally, Music, Cake & Postcard Campaign
• May 29th – Details to come!
• Help us demand the eradication of government-imposed poverty for people with disabilities in B.C.

We deserve better. Poverty is not a personal failure — it's a policy choice. And together, we can change it.

---

#RaiseTheRates #PWDJustice #EndPovertyBC #DisabilityRightsAreHumanRights #ZipolitaSpeaks

Can you eat for $3 a day? Bif's doing it!

The thing about poverty is you don't believe it could happen to you? and sadly it can. My daughter and I had to be on assistance while I was pregnant and until she was 3. That's when they kick you off.

We also we on it when my mom passed and I was grieving very deeply. Those were very difficult times and then can you imagine add to that I had usually about $100 for groceries. I remember scrounging coins and pennies to pay for little things. The food bank food was often outdated and food was bad, so I would go hungry.

Thankfully it's behind us but for many it's is still there reality.

Did you know that the current living wage for Vancouver is $20.10/hr?
But the minumum wage is $10.50 and then check out the welfare rates?

 "Living wage calculations are based on a two-parent family with two children – the most common family unit in BC – and each parent working full-time. The current living wage rate for Metro Vancouver is $20.10/hour. www.livingwageforfamilies.ca/about/what-is-a-living-wage/"


We currently earn well below the living wage but things are improving. But for the man who lives under the bridge and so many other homeless and single parents with kids forced to go on the system do legit circumstances such as unaffordable housing, it is cruel and inhumane to treat people like this. It does not foster good health, attitude or relations. When people are hungry, they get tired, angry, depressed and sick.

This is Canada. Things need to Change!
Raise the Rates!!



http://globalnews.ca/news/1617767/bif-naked-begins-b-c-welfare-challenge-living-on-3-a-day-for-food/

This is now, when I was pregnant 12 years ago it was only $525 I believe and my rent was $400

(I sublet a friends apt. Imagine trying to feed yourself well...eating for 2 on $100 a month. It was very difficult! )


Why $21 for a Week’s food

Total welfare		$610
Rent (realistic rent for an SRO)*	$450
Room damage deposit	$20
Book of 10 bus tickets (to look for work)	$21
Cell phone (to look for work)	$25
Personal hygiene/laundry	$10
Total of all non-food expenditures	$526
What’s left for food		$84

Jagrup is Home!

Tweet
Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2011
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/#!/zipolita @zipolita
http://gplus.to/zipolita Google+


From Raise the Rates Website "Jagrup Brar ended his month of living on the welfare rate of $610. He lost 26 pounds in weight, ended up $7 in debt and had to sell his backpack to have enough money to take the Skytrain back to Surrey." http://mlaonwelfare.com/

From his blog
http://mlaonwelfare.com/jagrups-blog-2/
Sharing a bathroom in any situation is an easy way to transmit viruses and bugs. In our SRO, sharing a bathroom with 11 others offers its own health challenges. I’ve often thought about all the people I’ve met with who are living in poverty and suffering health issues. How do individuals with immune-compromised illnesses protect themselves while living in poverty? The answer is easy: they don’t have that choice. Something as simple as a clean bathroom is a luxury not afforded in an SRO.   

I met a man from another SRO who showed me his building which has seven floors. There was only one shower for approximately 120 people – It’s simply unimaginable.  
   
I am told that there are 5,000 people living in SRO’s inVancouver. A majority of them have no cooking facilities. As a result, these individuals have to line up for free food, sometimes for two to three meals a day, spending over four hours in line ups.

Life in an SRO can be quick to break your spirit and your body. It becomes very hard to focus on finding your way when each day is an uphill battle to survive.


Binning- Binners http://mlaonwelfare.com/2012/02/01/survival-binning-and-community/


I was surprised to learn that there are people who spend about 8 hours a day binning to make a meagre $35 – that’s if they’re lucky. This works out to around $4.50 an hour. Binning is really dirty and you put your health at risk. Some of the bins are full of garbage or materials from the SRO’s as they are being cleaned out. Items with cockroaches, bedbugs, etc are tossed into the dumpsters. It’s not uncommon to contract a health issue through binning. I am now fully aware at this point that for those people who are on welfare, under the expected to work category – that if they try to earn extra monies to help supplement their incomes, such as selling bottles or other items that can be salvaged, whatever money is made will be deducted from their welfare cheque – dollar for dollar. If this amount is not declared to welfare – it is considered to be welfare fraud.

HOMELESSNESS

Tweet
Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2011
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/#!/zipolita @zipolita
http://gplus.to/zipolita Google+



In the city, you can't ignore the homeless because they are everywhere. Someone recently said that in the 70's there wasn't homelessness like this? I don't know, but homelessness is a VERY SERIOUS issue and it's all around us. Poverty is all around us. People need to get the government to help change this. Raising the welfare rates and the minimum wage would help this. This is a CRISIS!

Something has got to give. People will only be held down for so long. Like Marie Antoinette you can not say "Let them eat cake!" 

Politicians, Corporations and Banks need to be held accountable. To amass fortunes or aid others to do this when there is such obvious need and such obvious injustice.

These are crimes against humanity to treat people this way and allow these things to happen.

Let's all do our part to Raise Awareness and Raise the Welfare Rates and help stop homelessness and child poverty here in BC.

I Sure Wouldn't Want To Be Out There

Tweet
Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2011
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/#!/zipolita @zipolita
http://gplus.to/zipolita Google+



Well Jagrup is halfway thru his challenge. I'm very proud of his efforts. I'm not very proud of the people of BC. I haven't really seen people saying to much. I have been making an effort to try and share his experiences. But I'm WORRIED! I don't think much is going to change. I am TRYING  to stay POSITIVE!  but based on history, not much will change with out YOU!!

YOU! YES, YOU!  We have to make this government stop punishing people because they encounter hardship. It's like debtors prison. We don't actually send people to prison for being poor but we label them and demoralize them and beat them down until they can't stand on there own and then when they reach out someone kicks them.

Sorry for my rant, but it's how I feel. I am not the only one who feels this way. Anyone who has experienced the welfare system in this province will tell you it's not a nice experience.

Anyways unless people starting writing, talking and tweeting about it more, nothing will change. Please can you BE A CHANGEMAKER. Let's change the system. Let's help people stand on there feet, not kick their feet out from under them.

LET'S RAISE THE RATES!! and RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE!!

Read more about Jagrup Brar Efforts here

http://www.globaltvbc.com/surrey+mla+more+than+halfway+through+month+long+welfare+challenge/6442561044/story.html

http://www.thenownewspaper.com/news/Weary+broke+Surrey+Brar+braces+life+Vancouver+downtown+eastside/6004906/story.html

http://ccapvancouver.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/homeless-jagrup-brar-mla-on-new-years-day/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-politics/crosscheck-how-does-bcs-welfare-rate-stack-up/article2292037/

BRRRRR! It's cold out there, it would be so awful to be homeless. Good Luck Jagrup, and Keep Safe!! I'm saying prayers for you and all the homeless and everyone who has suffered at the hands of this unjust welfare system.

LOCKED IN POVERTY- BC- 400,000 PEOPLE

Tweet
Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2011
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/#!/zipolita @zipolita
http://gplus.to/zipolita Google+


http://www.raisetherates.org/resources.html

Families and children were hit very hard by the welfare cuts of 2002 - almost 1 in 4 children in BC live in poverty, a third of food bank users are children, and single parents are more than 60% likely to live in poverty. The 2007 provincial budget welfare increase did little to change this. More information on the effects of welfare policies on families and children can be found here.

http://www.raisetherates.org/resources.html
http://mlaonwelfare.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/welfarefactsheet.pdf
http://mlaonwelfare.com/

Would You or Your Loved Ones Like To Live Like This?

Tweet
Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2011
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/#!/zipolita @zipolita
http://gplus.to/zipolita Google+



Would you want to live like this? Check out this video and get in touch with what is the Real World Out there for many British Columbians.  Please Watch this video then please STOP and think if this were you, or your sister, mother, someone you loved. Do you want them to suffer like this? Do you think they deserve to be treated in such a terrible way. STOP and think about the children. What damage is being done...they are raised with anxiety of always wondering where the food, walking everywhere because you can afford buses, no treats or fun because there is just nothing in the budget for that.

Why? Why and how did the system get so cruel. Originally it was meant just for women and children. There is no reason that people should be treated this way in a country so rich and proud. The BC government has created really cruel policies that wear people down and prevent them from getting welfare or demoralize them so badly they refuse to take welfare. Those that must take it in order to care for a child are only allowed until the child is 3, then there must be extenuating circumstances. With very low rates there are no decent places to rent, one must use all the money and have barely any for food.

None of this can lead to healthy outcomes. Since the changes to the Welfare system in the last 10 years the damage is becoming more obvious. It's the child who really suffer. With constantly stressed out parents, no one can be healthy. That all takes it's toll in the long run on the health care system, on the whole system. An heavily burdened stressed child will carry that psychology their whole life.

Think about the Great Depression, did your parents/grandparent ever forget that moment when there was no bread in the house or whatever catalyst was of the memory that imprinted them and they told you your whole life.

It's CRUEL & INHUMANE, we NEED people from EVERYWHERE to READ this and SPEAK UP!


OTHERWISE nothing will change. NOTHING!!.

Historic Welfare rates since 1980
In 1986 Emery Barnes, MLA for Vancouver Centre, spent a month on welfare. At the end he said the welfare for a single person should be $700. Today that would be $1,290 a month. After he had lived on welfare, the rates were modestly increased from $375, which it had been since 1981, to $384. http://mlaonwelfare.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/welfarefactsheet.pdf

PLEAAAASSSEEE PEOPLE, DON'T TURN YOUR BACK, START SHARING, TALKING, DEMANDING THAT THERE IS CHANGE!! otherwise we (you and I, ALL OF US) will the price and we will pay dearly I can assure you.



Listen Carefully at .51 "Your all businessman here, Don't Make them Better Citizens,Doesn't it Make them Better Customers"

Welfare Fact Sheet-Ever Wonder How Much People Get On Welfare?

 UPDATE- SORRY- I had to deletE some links below, as they were old
These are the most recent. 

https://raisetherates.org/past-projects/mla-on-welfare/
https://raisetherates.org/

-------------------------------
Tweet
Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2011
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/#!/zipolita @zipolita
http://gplus.to/zipolita Google+

Ever wonder what a person on Welfare gets! Think it's easy to get Welfare or to live on Welfare...Think again. You may have heard about the MLA taking the Welfare Challenge

Check this out to get a better understanding of what it's really like.
Sorry had to remove old link

Many people are quick to judge or simply say "they made their choice" or "it's not my problem" but it is. It's everyone's problem. The children living in poverty are going to grow up with issues...the consequences of people living in poverty are obvious to many but many are obliviously to it. Please, PLEASE read this. EDUCATE and get informed about what the government has done and how things need to be changed. So many people are suffering unnecessarily.

We help people around the World, yet in our own backyard we deny people food and shelter. IT'S INSANE!! IT'S CRUEL! IT'S INHUMANE! Think about that. Please!

Here are a few Stats from the Welfare Fact Sheet

*The Average Rent in Vancouver for a 1 bedroom apartment is $1,045 which is nearly 3 times the $375 the government allows for shelter.

*Even the rent for most Single Room Occupancy shelter in the Downtown Eastside is $425 a month.


*Support Payments are No Support
The single person’s welfare payment for ‘Support’ is only $235. This is for everything apart from housing. So out of this money a person on welfare has to buy food, household supplies, personal care items, clothing, and the other costs of daily living. In addition they have to pay the costs of looking for work such as a phone or pay phone and transit. Of course totally out of the question is even a few dollars for some entertainment.

In reality, the typical rent for even the grim SROs, is more than the $375 a month the government allows, an extra $50 comes out of the $235. This only leaves $185 a month for all support costs.


*A Single Person on Welfare Cannot afford a Healthy Diet
If all of a man’s welfare went on food (so no clothes, no soap toothpaste or haircuts, no travel, not one cup of coffee or a glass of beer, no culture or entertainment) he’d still not have a healthy diet. A woman would have a few dollars left after eating.

*Single Parent Families cannot afford to Live or raise Healthy Children
A single parent family with a child receives $570 a month for shelter and $376 a month for support. In addition they, like almost all parents, receive child benefit payments from the Federal government including:
• Canada Child Tax Benefit which is made up of a Basic Benefit and National Child Benefit Supplement
• Universal Child Care Benefit

And from the BC government:
• Basic Family Bonus
The Canada Child Tax Basic Benefit is a non-taxable benefit of $113.92 per month for each child under 18 years of age. The National Child Benefit Supplement amounts are:
• $176.50 per month for the first child;
• $156.00 per month for the second child; and
• $148.50 per month for each additional child.
However there are conditions to these monies.

 Punishing Children
Children of a parent in receipt of welfare do get extended medical coverage but the development of a healthy child is about much more than covering the costs when they are ill. There is child care subsidy but it does not cover the real costs of childcare so a single parent actively looking for work – which they are required to do – has to subsidize good child care out of their meagre support money, such as spending even less on food. Once the child is 3 years old the parent faces having their welfare cut if they do not find a job or follow the government’s instructions to seek work.

For more info please check the  and Follow Jagrup's Blog - blog is gone sadly

The MLA Welfare Challenge
Can you Live on $610 a month?
Raise the Rates: www.raisetherates.org