Does Odsp Cover — What

Maya thought about what ODSP didn’t cover. It didn’t cover the bus fare to the MS clinic (two zones, $7.50). It didn’t cover the new battery for her wheelchair when the old one groaned up the hill to Leo’s school. It didn’t cover the quiet dread that lived in her chest—the math problem that never solved: $1,255 total. Rent $1,100. Leftover: $155. Food? Hydro? Leo’s feet growing again?

And for a moment, Maya thought: That. That is what ODSP doesn’t cover. But maybe, somehow, it should.

That was the only thing still covered.

Her son, Leo, age seven, had drawn a picture on the back of an electricity bill. A stick-figure family under a crooked sun. Leo had asked for new running shoes yesterday. His current pair had a grin cut into the side, the sole flapping like a tired tongue.

What does ODSP cover? Not enough. Never enough. what does odsp cover

Please. Add a line for hope. She didn’t send it. Instead, she folded the paper into a small boat. She placed the loonie inside. Then she walked to the creek behind the plaza, the one that ran past the food bank and the pawnshop. She set the boat on the water.

It didn’t cover the birthday cake Leo wanted for next Tuesday. The one with the green dinosaurs. Maya thought about what ODSP didn’t cover

ODSP covers survival. But survival is not a life. It covers my pills, but not my dignity. It covers this address, but not a home. It covers my son’s asthma puffer, but not the look on his face when I say “maybe next month.”