Theresa Schrader, seen here in this 2012 photo, says she stopped taking her mental health medication when she lost her job and her employer provided drug coverage. (TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO) When her medication got too expensive, Theresa Schrader… Continue Reading
Pat Capponi’s Order of Canada recognizes advocacy for mentally ill Pat Capponi is a psychiatric survivor who lived in poverty for years. Now she’s an outspoken advocate for those living in poverty and with mental illness. She has been awarded… Continue Reading
Shut out of medicare by shame: Goar Carol Goar Sep 02 2014 Life on the streets takes a punishing toll. It’s not just the elements, the hit-and-miss meals or the nights spent on park benches and heating grates. It’s the… Continue Reading
National Household Survey 2011: Ontario making progress fighting poverty Ontario rates of low-income suggest provincial efforts to reduce poverty are paying off. Laurie Monsebraaten Sep 11 2013 Dawnmarie Harriott was on welfare and living in a downtown Toronto rooming house… Continue Reading
CATHERINE PORTER Nov 19 2010 Linda Chamberlain left her dream job because it was making her broke. She’s richer earning nothing, living in her subsidized apartment and getting monthly disability cheques from the government — $260 a month richer. When… Continue Reading
Laurie Monsebraaten Jul 19 2010 For years, “hope” was just a four-letter word to anti-poverty activist Mike Creek. After working his way up in the hotel industry from dishwasher to head office manager, Creek lost it all in 1993 when… Continue Reading
Carol Goar June 19, 2009 The four-month interlude between the announcement of Ontario’s poverty reduction plan and the release of the provincial budget was a tough time for Children’s Minister Deb Matthews. The economy was deteriorating. Her government colleagues were… Continue Reading
Carol Goar Nov 12 2008 One of the delegates brought along a sleeping bag. He stretched it out and fell asleep whenever the proceedings bored him. Another lost his train of thought at the microphone, apologized, and said he might… Continue Reading
Stacey Bowen, left, a Toronto single mother of two teenage daughters who is struggling financially, worries about paying for post-secondary education for daughter Desiree, 16, right, who wants to be a teacher. (Nov. 19, 2008) (VINCE TALOTTA /… Continue Reading
Dorran Grant and Maryan Osman, as board members of the Atkinson Housing Co-Op, are helping Toronto youth avoid a life of drugs and crime. (AARON LYNETT / TORONTO STAR) Laurie Monsebraaten July 12 2008 Connie Harrison and Stacey Bowen were… Continue Reading