ISAC (the Income Security Advocacy Centre) and ACTO (the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario) have launched a campaign to save the Community Start-up and Maintenance Benefit that was cut in the 2012 Ontario budget.
The Community Start-up and Maintenance Benefit and the Home Repairs Benefit are benefits available to social assistance recipients to pay for such expenses such as first and last month’s rent, acquisition of new furniture (for example, when a bed bug infestation makes this necessary), and home repairs. Both of these benefits were eliminated in the 2012 budget, in advance of recommendations by the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance. The cuts will come into force in January 2013.
The Campaign consists of a letter template Ontarians can use to describe the impact these cuts will have on their lives. These letters will then be sent to Ministers and critics in all three parties.
See, “Act Now to Save Housing Supports for People on OW and ODSP!” available at www.sareview.ca.