I think your idea of a prepaid card is good.

I live in a "bad" part of my city, lots of drug addiction, prostitution and homeless as we have several large shelters in my neighbourhood, so what you describe is an everyday occurrence around here.

The cost of housing is impossible; even bachelor apartments are over 1000, and provincial disability payments are max 1200.. And so many jobs are low wage that housing insecurity is a real issue, I fell extremely lucky to have got into a subsidized boarding house that's run by a Catholic charity. dd Otherwise I don't know where I'd be.