When Beverley came to us eight years ago she was scared, lonely and unsure of what to expect. A friend had suggested she go to a shelter when she and her two kids, 9 and 11, had to leave an unsafe home environment, but a shelter was the last place she wanted to go. “I just imagined a shelter like you see on TV- a big room, full of mattresses on the floor, where you have to cling to your belongings so they don’t get stolen. I didn’t want to go. But I had no choice. It was either go to a shelter or go back to him.” And so she took the first step and walked through the doors of the YW. What Beverley found inside the YW “shelter” was a far cry from what she had imagined. “I was given my own room. I was treated with dignity and was seen as a person. The staff listened and showed me respect.” Beverley was astonished.

I felt my 9-month unborn daughter kick inside my stomach while we were moving boxes from our home. Instead of being excited, I wanted to throw up. This was no longer an exciting time in my family’s lives where we were bringing a new baby into this world. In this world, our reality, my family was evicted from our 2-bedroom townhouse when the housing market skyrocketed, and we could no longer afford our rent. We’ve never had a lot, but we always had enough.

When Charlene and her children connected with us, we were devastated that we didn’t have a unit for them right away. We always hope to have a solution. We offered them shelter units at our King Street location but that meant taking them out of their home community. Luckily for them, they had friends and family that could help for a short while. Their story is one we hear of so often – a single mom having no place else to go. I know it was a scary time for them. But Charlene’s determination to build a better life for her and her children fills us all with pride. She has been working so hard to ensure they will have a life where they will thrive.

At this point I was at the worst of my addiction, using alcohol and drugs to fall asleep at night and especially when my boyfriend’s friends came over. One night I was too exhausted to cook, so I went on my boyfriend’s laptop to order food and saw a nude picture of myself in an email thread to 18 different email addresses, with a price attached.

These were not my boyfriend’s friends; he didn’t know these men!

I thought I’d be able to fix it. I thought I’d be able to get back on track, I just need to save. But things kept coming up like my daughter desperately needed new glasses and I had to take my son into the dentist. On top of that the car needed work. None of these we’re options. They all needed to be done. The pile just kept getting higher. Left to manage it all on my own after my husband left.