Ravinder, Shawn and Kirsty are no ordinary neighbours.
Beyond looking out for each other and dropping in for a cup of tea now and again, they share an unfortunate common bond - each suffers from a debilitating disease or condition.
However, the same bum deal life has dealt the trio doesn't stop there.
All three scrimp, scrape and survive on Persons with Disabilities (PWD) benefits, a B.C. benefit that's only increased by $120 a month in the last 13 years.
Ravinder Dhillon has had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis since she was a year old. Shawn Logan suffers from Friedreich's ataxia, a genetic disorder like multiple sclerosis, and Kirsty (name changed), has cerebral palsy.
As well as struggling through life, the independent living Steveston Residence neighbours somehow get by on a PWD benefit of $906 a month.
This week, they got behind an appeal by the Richmond Centre for Disability (RCD) and the City of Richmond to pressure the government into raising the PWD monthly minimum to $1,200.
"I just have to budget the best I can, it's the only way I can manage," said Dhillon, 36, who considers herself one of the lucky ones, because she can work 11 hours a week at RCD as a receptionist.
"I don't go near any shopping malls for clothes, I simply can't afford it. And I need new $500 eye-glasses. The government will pay $120 towards it, but I will have to save for months and months to somehow pay the rest.
"I have a bit more money to spare than the others because I can work a little. But I still have to find money for hydro, basic cable, phone and my car."
Dhillon said she doesn't go shopping because she doesn't want to see stuff she knows she can never buy.
"The cost of living goes up and up every year," added Dhillon, who has no pictures on the walls of her one-bedroom apartment because she can't afford the frames.
"I'm a very social person, but I can't do the normal social things like traveling or even going to the movies when the chance comes up.
"Even a little bit more a month would make a big difference. I can't imagine how tough it is for people who can't work."
City council agreed on Monday to send a letter to Premier Christy Clark, backing RCD's appeal to raise the PWD benefit minimum to $1,200 a month for a single person.
Such a raise, as unlikely as it is, would be Christmas come early for people like Kirsty and Logan.
"Any change I have goes into a piggy bank to pay for things like toothpaste," said Kirsty, 36, who uses a wheelchair.
"It sounds kind of silly, but that's the truth. Some months are quite tough and there are times I have to ask my family to chip in.
"I don't like asking them for money, because they're struggling themselves."
Kirtsy said she also has to fork out for some of her own medication, because the government-funded medication makes her sick.
Logan, 42, faces a similar daily, weekly and monthly struggle to fend for himself and doesn't know how he could make ends meet without financial help from his parents.
"I'm lucky right now, but my dad will be retiring soon, so I'm worried about money," said Logan, who was diagnosed with the genetic disorder when he was 19 and who's health has deteriorated so much over the years that he cannot work.
"Every cost in life goes up and up every year, but the PWD rate seems to stay the same. I've found it more and more difficult every year."
All three neighbours are fortunate in so much they live in a subsidized BC Housing complex. There are many hundreds more like them in Richmond who are not.
The News asked the Ministry of Social Development, which distributes PWD, to explain why the benefit has hardly risen in 13 years.
The ministry said in a statement that B.C. has a good record when it comes to support for people with disabilities, adding that the rate is in the middle range of all Canadian provinces.
The ministry insisted that, when setting assistance rates, the government is obligated to take a balanced approach between "what is fair to individuals seeking assistance and what taxpayers can support."
According to the ministry, the government is not in a financial position to raise assistance rates in B.C.
Apparently, a 10 per cent increase for all individuals on income and disability assistance would cost $120 million per year.
And it would cost approximately $300 million a year to raise disability rates to $1,200 a month. About 100,000 people a month receive disability assistance in B.C.
