I have always been a burden. A burden on my family, my friends, “the system,” as they say. I’m the forgotten. The person who falls through the cracks. A few months back, they found me on the streets. I was looking for a place to nap because I had been up all night, feeling unsafe and this person walks up to me and starts talking about having a home for me.

I can’t even tell you how heartbreaking it was to realize we no longer had a home. I was so scared because I didn’t want to end up on the streets. That wasn’t an option, not while I was supporting my 3 young children. I was grateful when a worker at Gillian’s Place referred me to the YW. I’d tried every other option I could think of.

Yasmine’s journey with the YW started in December 2015. At the time, she was staying with her mother. While she was grateful for the shelter, her relationship with her mother had never been the best and living with her was becoming more and more challenging every day. Yasmine, who was 19 years old at the time, had lived …

What would you do if, after enduring 16 years in an unhappy marriage, you discovered your husband was already married? For Lillian, it was the catalyst into a new life, but one fraught with its own hardships. With only a part-time income as a bus driver to draw from, Lily moved from one temporary …

When Jenny and her 21-year-old daughter, Kathy, came into the YWCA Niagara Falls Shelter, they were both feeling completely defeated and with little hope. Jenny had recently lost her job as a PSW due to health concerns and struggling with depression. Meanwhile, Kathy was struggling with suicidal thoughts and self-confidence issues. When Jenny and Kathy …

When I walked through the doors of the YW Safer House for the first time, it felt like my life was just beginning. Hi, my name is Leah, and I’m a survivor of human trafficking. It’s a crazy feeling to look back on that day all those months ago. It feels like only yesterday, but …

When things started to feel serious with her partner a few years ago, Amanda moved to Niagara to be with him. It was hard to leave her family and her home, but this is what her partner wanted and she wanted to make him happy. This was the natural next step to her relationship, Amanda …

This success story is a long-winded one. It is the story of a woman named Jasmine. Jasmine has been in and out of the homeless emergency shelters for quite some time. She struggled with unmanaged mental health issues that continuously inhibited her from reaching her full potential. Jasmine would have her good days, but darkness …

Before she came to the YW’s shelter, Victoria felt vulnerable and powerless. Trapped in an abusive home, Victoria knew she had to make a choice – stay and continue to experience abuse or leave and face an unknown future with no money and no home… She had nowhere to go. Both choices were impossibly terrifying …

My name is Ruby. I am 27 years old. I came to the YW because I have been going through some tough times. Not long ago, everything in my life was going well. I was safe and comfortable in my home – in my life. But at the same time that I got laid off …

She has old eyes. That’s the first thing that struck me when I first met Kim. Her life’s path is discernible in the shadows that are always there, even when she’s smiling. When Kim first came to the YW shelter she had already experienced more in her life than anyone should. Kim was a victim …

When Naomi first stepped foot in the King St. emergency shelter, she was full of hope. For too long, she’d be filled with uncertainty. How was she going to survive without shelter? How was she going to find an affordable apartment in Niagara? When she found refuge at the YW, she could feel the page …

My name is Laura and I am a survivor of human trafficking. I have been at the YW’s Safer House for 5 months and I am feeling better than I have in years. After months of processing my trauma, I finally feel ready for my next step – to reclaim my life. There is just …

Like many of the women who walk through our doors, when Alecia called the YW she needed help and she needed help fast. She was facing an impossible decision: Stay with her abusive partner or be forced into homelessness for herself her and two young boys. When, over the phone, a Women’s Advocate said they …