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Harvest Stars – Living on The Line

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/03/2022 (1476 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In its accounting of how people on food assistance make ends meet, the Harvest Voices 2021 Report presented a high-level balance sheet of incomes and expenditures.

Within it are several real-world, human scale accounts of what it’s like living on the line or below it, forced to rely on Harvest to put food on the table.

This is Jamie’s story. It is a quiet, inspiring example of someone rising above her challenges with a little help from you, our community of Harvest Stars.

 

Jamie’s Story

Shortly after completing her degree in psychology at the University of Manitoba, Jamie was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Due to her condition and the effects of her medications, Jamie was unable to work. Manitoba Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) became her main source of income, and so her EIA worker referred her to Harvest for food assistance.

Through all this, Jamie kept ‘working’. She started volunteering at Harvest and participated in a training program where regained her confidence and learned new skills that resulted in a full-time job doing administrative work. It wasn’t psychology, but it was work she could now handle.

She continued to rely on Harvest for food because her employment income did not cover all her expenses, especially medication. But the food security she gets from her Harvest Hamper was medicine for physical health, and by extension, her mental health and happiness.

 

Making Impossible Choices

The annual salary for a Manitoban working 40 hours a week at minimum wage is $22,466. After paying her basic monthly expenses (rent, utilities, cable, phone, and medications) Jamie has $250 a month left for food and any other essentials. Like Jamie, 82% of Harvest food recipients reported an annual income of less than $20,000 a year, which is below Canada’s official poverty line.

Like Jamie, they just make do with less. They make impossible choices like food or medication, and they endure.

 

With Food Comes Hope

In adequate income, and the food insecurity that inevitably comes with it, is the biggest single factor in the physical and mental health of our community.

That’s why Harvest Hampers are the most successful, hands-on solution, we have today to address hunger and the issues that come with it in our community.

If you have enough food, you have more of a chance to live and thrive enough to enjoy the positives in your life like friends and family. As people like Jamie can attest, hope might just be the most nutritious ingredient in the hamper.

To read more about the experiences of Manitobans living with food insecurity, please visit: https://www.harvestmanitoba.ca/harvest-voices/

“I have to worry about paying for medication, so food from Harvest helps some.

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