Bum?
Lazy?
Begger?
Scum?
This is a stigma. This is ignorant
There are over 150 thousand homeless people in Canada, and I, Samantha O’Connor, and one of them. You could never tell by looking at me, after all, I am a clean, healthy, attractive, intelligent University student,but everyday when class ends, and most students head back to their rez rooms, apartments or commute back home to mom and dad, I have to venture back to the YWCA shelter where I am staying for a hot meat, a warm shower, and a place to sleep.
What is a normal 20 year old university student doing living in a shelter, you maybe wondering? She doesn’t look like a crack-head, schizophrenic, or transvestite. Unfortunately, this was the hand I was dealt.
I am a survivor of child abuse. I grew up in Ottawa, in an unhealthy and unsafe environment, being raised by two mentally ill, abusive, addict parents. I was born into a situation beyond my control. No amount of abuse or neglect, however, could take away my passions, talent, and dreams. I used writing as a coping mechanism, and began journaling to cope with what I was going through. I decided I wanted to be a journalist and moved five and a half hours away to Toronto to begin my journey.
I have been living at the YWCA for almost four months. I have seen and heard things that I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. I do live with some of Toronto’s finest crack-heads, and schizophrenics, but there are many women in the same position as me, who just needed a way out of the mess they were stuck in. The first few nights I cried myself to sleep, wallowing in my own self pity. It wasn’t until I turned my negative thinking to positive that things began to look up.
I started talking to many of the women I live with, and realized that there was much to learn from these people who have been through so much, yet are positive, and have faith in the good things to come.
Everyone has a story.
Everyone walks in different shoes.
No matter how bad we think we have it, there is always someone who has it worse. We must be grateful for what we do have. Everything we go through is for a reason, to learn the lessons we need to learn to become the person we are destined to be.
Living in a shelter has taught me many lessons, and has given me many gifts. I have healed from my abuse, gaining a unique perspective on life, inspiration to make a difference, and knowledge, and experience beyond my years.
We all have a story.
What’s yours?
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