Client Journeys
The YWCA has been operating in Niagara for more than 90 years, and the lives we have impacted are too many to count. During the more recent years of our work, we have made a point of encouraging those clients, who are happy to talk about their progress, to share their stories of success with us. We share these stories with you to show you that there is always hope, and we share them with you to thank each and every one of you who chooses to support our work. We could not do what we do without the support of our donors, volunteers, community partners, and advocates.
Thank you kindly to all of our clients, who agreed to share their journeys with you.
Meet Yasmine
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 …
Meet Lily
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 …
Meet Jenny & Kathy
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 …
Meet Leah
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 …
Meet Amanda
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 …
Meet Jasmine
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 …
Meet Victoria
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 …
Meet Kim
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 …
Meet Naomi
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 …
Meet Laura & Jade
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 …
Meet Alecia
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 …
Meet Heather
In My Own Words If I had to choose one word to describe myself, it would be relentless. I have fought so hard to rebuild my life. While I have overcome common challenges we all face; my truly life-altering experience was being kidnapped in my mid 20’s. It was and still is a nightmare …
Meet Penelope
I cried. I cried tears of joy and relief almost two months ago when I first entered my unit with my two boys and my West Niagara Affordable Housing worker. I walked in and the tears started falling down my face. I was overwhelmed – still am. This is a huge difference from the shelter …
Meet Cindy
My letter to you. Losing my home was one of the hardest things I have ever had to go through. It happened so fast and yet when I look back, it’s as though it’s replaying in slow motion. I had a good life –a good family, with two amazing children – a boy and a …
Meet Cynthia
Cynthia became a participant of the YWCA Off-Site Transitional Housing Program in September 2016. Prior to coming into the program, Cynthia was evicted from the house she had spent the last 10 years in because the landlord needed it for another family. This was devastating for Cynthia. She was unable to find work because of …
Meet Samantha
I loved my life. My kids, my husband, my home. We were just scraping by each month, but I knew that we had it better than a lot of other families in St. Catharines. And, I had my family – that was enough. Then, I lost my job. At $16 an hour, it was the …
Meet Rachel
Rachel and her two children came to our shelter after fleeing an abusive relationship. She had finally found the courage to escape her husband. Unfortunately, even once she was brought to safety, Rachel could not help but have negative intrusive thoughts. She started believing that she should have put up with the abuse since her …
Meet Beth
Strength comes in all shapes and sizes. In this case, a petite, shy and soft spoken Mother of four named Beth. Growing up in Grimsby, Beth, a Personal Support Worker, always dreamed of one day becoming a nurse. But, sometimes life gets in the way; and Beth found herself stuck in an abusive relationship with four children, and a pile of student debt to top it off. Inner strength helped her to leave; but finding – and keeping – housing for a family of five in Grimsby is not easy. Grimsby has the highest costs of living in the Niagara Region, and soon enough, Beth $1400 rent cheques were falling further and further behind. She found herself faced with yet another hurdle to climb: eviction.