Food banks a critical source of help for ODSP recipients

Among the increasing number of peoplerelyingon Ottawa's Food Bank for survival are manyliving with disabilities, who say the money they receive through the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP)isn't enough tokeep up with rent, let alone groceries.

Angie Allardis part of a group of ODSP recipients calling on the province to modernizedisability support.Five years agoshe owned a house, had a nest egg and worked at a fulfilling job. All that changed after a car accident shattered her vertebrae.Now, her disability limits her work options.

She saidhermonthly ODSPpayment of $1,169barely covers the rent forherapartment.For Allard, visiting the food bank has become a monthly routine.

It boils down to needing the food banknot just to top up, but literally to survive."- Angie Allard, ODSP recipient

"It's a feeling of shame.... You don't think you'd ever get to the point where you need to ask somebody to help you to feed yourself," she said. "It's every month you've got to make that decision, is soap more important than food? Are my medications more important than food? And it boils down to needing the food banknot just to top up, but literally to survive."

Allardpointsto the increasing reliance on food banks as a symptom of a larger problem.

"I can't think of a single person that I know personally on ODSP who hasn't had to use the food bank at least once a month. The food bank has literally become a source of survival rather than just a top-up."

WATCH | The system is leaningon food banks:

Why the food bank is critical for some Ottawans living with disabilities

4 years ago

Duration 4:59

Angie Allard found herself relying on the Ontario Disability Support Program after shattering vertebrae in a car accident five years ago. She says the payments barely cover her rent, leaving her dependent on the food bank to make ends meet.

Food prices rising

Canada's Food Price Report predicts next year will see the highest increase in grocery bills of the last decade. The expected three to five per cent increase in the price of bread, meat and vegetables is expected to hit people living on low incomes especially hard.

• Expect to pay a lot more for groceries next year, thanks to climate change and COVID-19

John andSusan Redinssay they've already started tofeel the pinch. The newly married couple relieson ODSP to help cover their living costs. They saygoing to the food bank every month has become a challenging part of this pandemic, especially asthey continue to seethe lines there growlonger.

"One of the biggest things I learned is to swallow your pride," saidRedins. "And watching all those people in line swallow their pride."

Both he and his wife are coping with disabilities.The little work they were able to do, COVID-19took away.

Allardsaid it's the kind of thing that can happen to anyone.

"You know, there's a possibility for every single person [reading] this right now to end up with a disability. I don't wish it on anybody. I certainly didn't wish it for my life," she said.

Allard's wish this holiday season is for her advocacy work to compel more people to learn about income supports for those with disabilities, and why food banks are becoming a growing necessity in an increasingly expensive world.

"It's something that I'm going to be grateful for this year," she said. "Youhave to make up your mind to to continue living, you gottado what you've gottado. And food banks are a part of that."