Kara reached out to our office with a few complaints about the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction (MSDPR). Kara told us her request for a crisis supplement for a heater to heat her home, a recreational vehicle (RV), had been denied. And while a second request for a mattress had been approved by MSDPR, the mattress she was provided was the wrong size and didn’t fit in her RV.

We contacted MSDPR and learned that it had issued funds directly to Kara so she could purchase a mattress that fit her RV. To mitigate the issues Kara experienced, the ministry’s Service Quality Manager assigned a Community Integration Specialist to work with her moving forward.

We also learned that Kara’s request for a heater was not considered an “unexpected expense” and because her RV was not heated previously, she did not qualify for a crisis supplement. To remedy the issue, the Service Quality Manager asked the Crisis Essential Utilities Team to explore whether Kara’s RV could be fitted with a furnace. As a furnace was deemed not to be a viable option, MSDPR approved the funding request to enable her to purchase a heater for her RV.