Valérie was studying to become a teacher. There was no teaching during lockdown so she was not entitled to employment insurance.
Written testimony
Ok, bien je dirais que c’est sûr que financièrement on est quand même très serré, fait que c’est certain qu’on n’a pas beaucoup de lousse pour pouvoir justement, vraiment… T’sais on arrive à acheter qu’est-ce qu’il faut pour les enfants, parce que de toute façon, à un moment donné on n’a pas le choix, t’sais comme les uniformes d’école, puis les souliers, les manteaux, tout ça, on a comme… On se sert la ceinture pour être capable de leur payer ce qu’ils ont besoin. Mais avec mon intervenante du CLSC dans le fond, elle, elle a fait une demande pour qu’on puisse avoir droit à l’aide alimentaire. Parce que même si on n’est pas considéré comme dans un… Comment je pourrais dire? On n’est pas sur l’aide sociale, mon mari travaille, on a une belle maison, mais ça n’empêche pas le fait qu’on n’y arrive pas, surtout avec l’inflation, le prix des trucs qui a augmenté, aussitôt qu’il y a quelque chose qui est imprévu comme une paire de souliers, ou quelque chose qui brise sur la maison, ou la voiture, on est fait. On se retrouve toujours à aller piger dans notre marge de crédit … Mais c’est sûr que probablement l’année prochaine on va devoir probablement vendre la maison, puis essayer de déménager ailleurs parce que là on arrive vraiment trop serré.
[“Ok, well I’d say that financially we’re very tight, so we don’t have a lot of money to be able to really … You know, we manage to buy what we need for the kids, because anyway, at some point we have no choice, you know like school uniforms, shoes, coats, all that, we’re like… We tighten our belts to be able to pay for what they need. But with my CLSC worker in the background, she applied for food aid. Because even though we’re not considered to be in a… How shall I put it? We’re not on welfare, my husband works, we have a nice house, but that doesn’t stop us from not being able to afford it, especially with inflation, the price of things going up, as soon as there’s something unexpected like a pair of shoes, or something breaking on the house, or the car, we’re done for. We always end up dipping into our line of credit… But it’s certain that next year we’ll probably have to sell the house and try to move somewhere else, because we’re really too tight right now.] Translation from original French.
More content
- Mental Health Support – ValérieValérie had limited mental health support because she had to pay out of pocket.
- Getting Care for Long COVID – ValérieValérie made repeat visits to ER because she couldn't get help elsewhere.
- Complementary and Alternative Care – ValérieValérie gained a sense of control over her symptoms with the help of her kinesiologist.
- Support From Family, Friends, Communities – ValérieValérie notices her supporters running out of steam.
- Impacts on Children and Parenting – ValérieValérie wishes her children didn't have so much responsibility.
- Loss of Income and Need for Financial Support – ValérieValérie is afraid of falling into the hole of an unrecognized illness.
- Loss of Income and Need for Financial Support – ValérieValérie was studying to become a teacher. There was no teaching during lockdown so she was not entitled to employment insurance.
- People with Long COVID Advocating for Themselves – ValérieValérie is fighting to get her disability recognized after her application for social assistance was refused.
- Advice to Others Living With Long COVID – ValérieValérie warns that pushing yourself too hard can have long-term negative consequences.
- Psychosocial Impacts – ValérieValérie hits the wall emotionally every time her symptoms flare up.