In the last episode, Garima Talwar Kapoor at Maytree talked about the WELFARE WALL. It refers to the unintended consequence of social support programs that effectively discourages people from supplementing their pension, their welfare or social assistance cheques with a part time job. Thousands of individuals with serious disabilities end up on welfare. And many of them inadvertently become trapped behind that welfare wall because it is their chief source of income and often the only route to disability supports and benefits. In this episode we get a first-hand perspective from Trevor Manson and Andrea Hatala, Chairs of Ontario Disability Support Program Action Coalition. We’re also joined by Devorah Kobluk, Chair of Defend Disability. During the pandemic, the federal government spent $200 million dollars supporting food banks, indigenous organizations and related agencies. As urgent as that funding was at the time, Devorah says it only addressed a symptom rather than a solution.