Since I recently got a definite (although I've been told by someone else that it is still a *possibility*) answer to something I was hoping for, I thought I'd share it with you.
Some of you may remember from five years ago, a few months after my Mom passed away, that I had taken a Business Planning course and had hoped to be able to start my own giftshop business... however at the end of it all, I didn't have any money to buy any products to sell, much less to lease a shop etc.... so that was the end of that, or so I thought.......
About a month or so ago Matthew had to go on Social Assistance (Ontario Works) because he has been out of work since last October and his Unemployment benefits ran out so my Disability was our only income to try to pay the mortgage and all the bills... and buy food and gas for the van. We were beginning to drown in debt again. Anyway... when he spoke with his Employment case worker from Ontario Works he told her that he had hoped to be able to get back to his cabinetmaking courses in September (they closed the college for the summer, even the evening classes) to work toward starting his own woodworking/cabinetmaking business... however we didn't have enough money to do that because of having to try to catch up on all the bills. She told him that since the cabinetmaking courses was for him to eventually start his own business and not just a hobby, she (the government) would have no problem at all in helping with the cost of the courses as well as the cost of gas to get there since the college is 90 minutes away from home. *And* because he had never felt the need to get his driver's license before, but would be needing it for his business (delivering finished items, etc).. she would pay for him to get his license too. :o) He has since gotten his G1 (Learner's Permit) and in one year he can take his driving test. He is doing very well with his driving skills and drives most times when we go anywhere now. He has also been back into his cabinetmaking courses (two of them this semester) for a couple of weeks now and doing well.
On the same visit with his employment caseworker, she also suggested that he talk with someone at SEB (Self Employment Benefits) to see if they would help him start his business. I went to that meeting with him and heard what the man told him... he doesn't qualify at the moment because he isn't finished his "training" (taking his cabinetmaking courses), but when he does finish... if he can finish within three years (it is a three level program with a LOT of courses in each of the levels), he will then qualify for SEB to help him write up a business plan to try to get a loan for his business,
*and* they will pay him twice a month to help with the cost of living while he is establishing his business. Now, I thought... what a great idea, and I wish they had that in effect five years ago when I had taken the business planning course.I thought about it for about three weeks and then decided to ask the people at Disability *IF* I can get my doctor's approval to *try* to start my own giftshop business... and IF I had to give it up after a while for whatever reason (be it health or that the business didn't succeed, or whatever) would I have a difficult time getting back on Disability again... considering that it took them THREE years to finally approve me the first time around. I was told that since I had already been adjudicated that there would be no problem at all in me getting back on Disability if I went off for whatever reason. They also told me that whether I started my own business or found work for someone else (hard to do since I have bouts that put me out of commission for a few days to a week or so at a time), I likely wouldn't make enough money that I would need to even go off Disability completely anyway... that I would have to make a LOT of money to make *too* much. Apparently they take half of my earnings (be it from my own business or working for someone else) off my cheque from Disability, but they also add an extra $100 each month as an incentive to continue to work. Well that sounded great, and we would have more money coming in to try to keep ahead of the bills... so off I went to talk to the same man at SEB who had told Matthew about that program.
I was told that mine would work differently because I haven't received Unemployment benefits within the three year window... are you ready?... I
*just* missed the window by about three weeks. In other words if I had asked Disability about it as soon as I heard about it from Matthew's meeting, I would have made it in just under the three year window... and I would have been off and running with it. *sigh* Missed opportunities! However, he did tell me that he had worked with a couple of other people who were on Disability and that it can be done, just in a different way... but I had to fill out an application and take it to a different branch of the government. Did it, and she told me that she never heard of it... that I wouldn't be able to get the extra money to help with the cost of living while getting my business established. Back I went to the man at SEB who said yes it *can* be done, that he had worked with a couple of people who did it, that the other woman wasn't looking in the right place. I spoke with someone else at another branch of the government who also said it couldn't be done... then back to SEB again. This went on over and over for a few weeks. I was on a roller coaster, getting my hopes built up that it *could* happen, to have them slapped down that it couldn't happen afterall. Finally a couple of weeks ago I had enough, and hadn't heard back from the one woman how was going to check on a couple of things... and I stopped in her office where she told me that she hadn't talked to the other person who was still off on vacation but that my giftshop business *wasn't* going to be happening at all.. that it would *not* work.Then I tossed another idea at her.... what about if I took a couple of correspondence courses (I get too stressed in regular classroom situations, and correspondence courses would allow me to work at my own time with my own schedule... day or night, and be able to talk to instructors online or on the telephone 24 hours a day). I had thought about this a few years ago too. The courses I want to take are for Computer Graphics, Desktop Publishing, Web Design... and Business Studies. I figured if I took those two courses I could either work for other people (likely would want to do that at first anyway to learn more about how the business part of it works), or myself... making posters, menus, cards, calendars, etc... and even publishing my own writings (I've had a few people say they would buy my writings if I published them). And the Business Studies course would help me to be able to manage the business (money) side of it... and I could do that out of our home rather than having to lease a shop... at least for a while. *AND*, the school offering the correspondence courses have a nice incentive program... they send you a new computer (desktop, or laptop... your choice) already loaded with the programs you need for the course to work on... and once you complete the course, you get to keep the computer!!!! Well, when I mentioned all of this to the woman who had just told me that my giftshop business would not be happening, she said "Correspondence?!? The government won't go for that! If it were an online course they *might* allow it, because it can be monitored, but a correspondence course cannot be monitored." What am I... three, that I need to be monitored? I understand that some people abuse the system and wouldn't bother doing the work... but when someone really wants to upgrade their skills to help themselves get ahead, they are knocked down. I told Matthew, if I had the money and could afford to do this, I would pay for it myself and prove to the government that I *can* do it and I *can* get ahead regardless of what they think. Unfortunately it is far too expensive to pay for myself.... however I am *not* giving up on the idea completely. Apparently there are a couple of options I can look into before having to throw in the towel.... so it *might* still happen.