Personal Stories

Hi, my name is Quinn Smith-Windsor. I am a disabled artist, entrepreneur and advocate.

This is the story of what it is like to be a single disabled mother raising children, especially considering that I had no prior understanding of the word "poverty." The term was never part of my vocabulary, even though I was a 60's Scoop child.

The federal government has been promising a federal disability benefit since 2020 – touted as a game changer for the many persons with disabilities living in poverty in this country. It has not lived up to its promise.

Bill C-22, federal legislation to create the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), passed unanimously in Parliament last June, with the expectation that the benefit would flow within a year. But the government has yet to allocate funding for it or fully flesh out how it will operate. Each day that passes threatens to push disabled people further into poverty and a sense of hopelessness.

It seems there’s not much Canadians politically agree on these days. Which is why it was heartening to see that regardless of partisan allegiances or regional differences, most Canadians agree that it’s long past time the federal government funded a disability benefit.

27% of the population of Canada are disabled. 40% of the people who live in poverty are disabled. Nothing accounts for this disparity but our society’s attitudes towards disabled people. We can change this.

December 2023 marked the first December in three years that I have not spent languishing in pain in a hospital bed.

As an Autistic person, finding my own career path has been a challenge.

I live with cerebral palsy.  I experience a physical battle daily.  But the financial burdens that impact myself and my loved ones create even more barriers than I already face. This is the reality for many disabled Canadians across the country.

Hello, I’m Valentina and this is my Service Dog, Wolfgang Moonbeam, ‘Wolfie’! Some background information for you: I have experienced multiple traumas and therefore have a large range of disabilities and medical needs.

A personal tribute to David Onley, former lieutenant governor of Ontario.

The intersections that tend to exist alongside disability are often not considered when examining what a disabled person needs to thrive in the world. In fact, the notion of disabled people thriving seems to be one that is not widely accepted.

Hello, my name is Elisa. I have just started volunteering, working with Disability Without Poverty initiative that is trying to get the situation that allows people like me and others with disabilities to have a living wage and to reach their full potential.

My name is Andrea van Vugt and I’m on the Disability Without Poverty team. When I think about the work that I’m doing, these are the words that come to mind: Resilient. Disability. Luck. Fight. Tired. Promise. Hope.

Living with a disability can teach you a lot of things; how to adapt where others may see an obstacle, knowing that you might have to navigate a path that looks different than anyone else, and that’s OK.