GUELPH/WELLINGTON – After hearing clients’ stories about how they struggle to live off Ontario Works (OW) or Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), those behind a legal service have decided the province should hear these stories too.
The Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County, a free legal service for low income people that also operates a mobile van, have put their support behind a call by the Income Security Advocacy Centre to double the assistance rate for those on OW and ODSP.
Clinic executive director Anthea Millikin said their outreach worker Maddie Smith decided to give the community a voice through a letter writing campaign that can be done at the clinic in Downtown Guelph or at one of the law van stops in Wellington County.
“People come to the clinic, they come to the law van and they tell us how difficult it is to pay rent, to eat, to live on what they receive on OW or on ODSP,” Millikin said.
“This is a way for the voices of the people affected to reach the decision makers to say ‘this is what this means to me.’”
A lot of these letters are intended to show the province people’s lived experiences but Millikin said they don’t have to come from those on social assistance.
“Because we care about each other right? We care about the people who live in our communities,” Millikin said. “
This is important to all of us in the community because these are our neighbours, these are our friends and their family members. This is us and it impacts on everyone. We’re all connected and the well being of the community requires that people have enough money to live”
Those who wish to write a letter can come to the law van for a pre-printed form or can visit this website to find out how to help the campaign.
Millikin said having it be done through the law van helps to get the word out Wellington County where she stressed there’s as much of a problem as in Guelph. She said they find there are people who come to the law vans who never make their way to the clinic in Guelph
So far, the law van and clinic has received just a small handful of letters but Millikin encouraged those who are hesitant to speak out.
“We really want to encourage people to talk to us from the heart because we know this is hard,” Millikin said.
More information on the legal clinic and law van stop schedule can be found here.
