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HSH gives struggling mother of three new hope By John Bkila OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Most families never have to experience the unimaginable decision of eating or paying the bills to keep a roof over their head. For Bev, (whose name is being withheld) that was just one of many difficult daily decisions as she raised her three children -- who are now 20, 18 and 15 years old -- on her own after she divorced and left her Nova Scotian hometown of 20 years. "There was no support whatsoever and we had to leave. We even went to a shelter in Nova Scotia for a couple of months," Bev said. "It was about getting away from an unhealthy environment. At the time, I was working a lot of temp jobs in Nova Scotia, when I was offered a job at a telecom company in Ontario... it was just best for us to leave and come here and start a new life." The Oakville resident, of nearly four years, said life after moving was still tough. "It's quite taxing -- financially, it's the worst," she said of juggling a job, as well as looking after her children. Money was tight for the family, and then Bev was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. "When I got sick, things catapulted to, `Oh my gosh, that's it. We can't eat or have a roof over our heads,'" she said. Now in remission, Bev, 46, has had a full mastectomy, four surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation, and had some lymph nodes removed. "I felt pretty hopeless. I was falling into depression," she said. "It was just very difficult and I was trying my best to be positive for my kids... it was just so tough." Facing homelessness, unpaid bills and a fight against cancer, Bev scoured every resource looking for any form of help, and in 2009, she came across the website of Home Suite Hope (HSH). Having recently shifted its focus to singleparent families, HSH provides accommodation Full Delivery: Dell Computers, Hardwood Giant, AAR Automotive Sales, Arif Qureshi, RE/MAX Realty One, The Vitamin Store, Ann's Flower Boutique, 2001 Audio, Smart Source, Oakville Wrap, Michael's, Ideal Home For home delivery & customer service call 905-631-6095, 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington New subscriptions call 905-631-6095 or subscribe online @ www.oakvillebeaver.com 5 · Friday, October 12, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com Inside Opinion.............................................6 Worship..........................................33 Artscene.........................................34 Sports.............................................36 Classified........................................42 and support for those facing homelessness. "We want (those families) to stay in their community, rather than uprooting them from it," Jules Graham-Hood, HSH director of development, said in a previous interview. "(And) where we differ is that we also give the families the education, training and tools they need to break the cycle from going from one social service to another... to give them the confidence and level of security they need to get them back on their feet and move on." Needing just under $500,000 to operate each year, collected from fundraising, private donations and government grants, HSH is run by a 10-member volunteer board of directors and six full- and part-time staff who work with clients. While in its care for a little more than two years, HSH provided Bev and her children with a stable home almost immediately, as well as income support, food and nutritional needs, lifeskills training, dental and medical support and counselling. "Just having that load of stress taken off of me, my life after HSH -- I had a roof over our heads, the counselling we needed to stand on our feet and start feeling better about ourselves and it enabled me to start focusing on getting back to school and get some retraining because I had missed so much time from work while I was sick," Bev said. A full-time student at Sheridan College, Bev plans to become a social worker -- working part-time odd jobs in the restaurant industry with a goal of finding a position in her field. "It was so overwhelming before, but now I have faith, I have hope," Bev said, comparing her life before and after HSH. "With all the counselling, they've given me a lot of strength to pick up the pieces and move forward on so many levels. I'm hopeful for the future and I feel like things may actually work out for us this time... I needed that step up and they were there to provide it for me and my family." Paying it forward, Bev joined HSH's program advisory committee three months ago to help shape and improve programming. "(HSH) is very important to me because I never knew there was an organization like this out there, that's able to help somebody in my position," she explained. "They've done so much for me and I want to be able to return the favour... if I can help enhance somebody else's life any way I can, that's what I'll do." HSH hosts its annual Empty Bowls fundraiser Sunday (Oct. 14) at St. Mildred'sLightbourn School, 1080 Linbrook Rd. Tickets cost $60 and can be purchased at www.homesuitehope.org. DISTINCTIVE EUROPEAN FASHION.