Read Letter - PDD & AISH

By mary salvani
Written Jan. 24, 2010
A letter written to Hon. Yvonne Fritz, Calgary-Cross

Please don't cut funding to programs that are supported by PDD. My family and I need those programs to survive! What is better to let people's illnesses and disabilties become worse because they don't get services from PDD then make our goverment pay more for their health care later on? Or is it better to prevent illnesses and disabilities from getting worse in the first place? I think it is cheaper to prevent illnesses and disabilities from getting worse by supporting PDD funded programs and their clients. I get counseling that is funded in part by PDD- without the counseling I am lost. The counselor I got helped me learn to make friends, advocate for myself, find a good psychiatrist, and helps me find ways to safely deal with my frustration. But most importantly she listens to me and hears me out! She is one of the few people who actually understands what I am going through, and she is one of the few people I actually can trust. I don't want to lose her or any of the programs she has refered me to because of the cuts that are being made to PDD. To me I think the government needs to show they care. So many people like me think the government needs improvement, and that we'd be lost without the government's help. I don't know what I am going to do if PDD goes away. I am afraid if I don't get counseling no more from someone who understand what it is like to have a disability I may end up dying inside of myself. If I do I will say in a letter that I died because no one including the government of Alberta was willing to help me live. Also AISH I think still needs to be improved. I know you disagree with me on this but hear me out please. People like me on AISH deserve to live a good quality of life- right now life stinks because of AISH. I can't afford to live on my own. I can't be independant just like other adults in society. Instead I got to wait for things like Calgary housing- I was told that if I wait for Calgary housing it will take them 2 years to process my application. Because I have a disability that makes me feel extreemly frustrated- I am afraid that by the time Calgary housing becomes available to me I may be dead or in a coma. My frustration level often sky rockets to the point where I feel trapped and I end up hitting my head when my medication is not available. Sometimes AISH health benifits stop cover my ADD medication and mood medications- and I have to reapply for them. I can't afford to pay my ADD medication, or my mood stabalizer medication. I can't afford to be extreemly frustrated either. I have rights just like everyone else. I am sick of being treated like I should be in a trash can. I want to feel valued in my home, community, and society. If I die because I don't get the supports I need I will say in a letter that I request the government to pay for my funeral cost and for my family's emotional support- because they need help too.

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