I've been trying to apply for Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disabilities since the summer, and it's been incredibly difficult to get everything together for the application. It requires a three page form to be filled out by a family doctor, which I don't have - and finding one is impossible because all the General Practitioners in my area are no longer accepting new patients. This means I have to get my endocrinologist to stand in for a GP, which isn't ideal. I have to convince her that my disability is permanent (it is) and that it significantly impacts my daily life to the point of unemployability (it does).
At the moment I'm only receiving $300 CAD a month from the Saskatchewan Income Supplement, which isn't intended to be for unemployed disabled people like myself; it's intended as additional income to complement an existing income stream, and comes with the caveat that it's means-tested and heavily policed. I have to submit bank statements for every month I'm on SIS, meaning I have to go to two different banks to retrieve statements - one of which has a fee for printing statements. I also have to report ALL income I receive, no matter how small the denomination; if a dollar isn't accounted for, I'm kicked off of SIS.
Also, for context, $300 CAD translates to $220 USD. It's really not a lot.
Being able to do what I do as an activist for free is noble, but exhausting. I need money to live, and my work to protect queer people and advocate for disabled people doesn't pay (yet, but im working towards it). It should pay, sure, but it doesn't. Unfortunately, we live in a capitalist hellscape.
If you wanna help me fight for what's right, or just support a rural queer in need, please help if you can.