How Supportive Housing Changed My Life

When I was 10 years old, I moved from a small town in Alberta to Montreal. I was now in a new city and was going to a new school and didn't know anybody. The other kids at school all ignored me because I just didn't seem to have the same interests as they did. That is when I began to notice that I was different than everyone else.

As time went on, I lost all confidence in myself and became very withdrawn. I avoided people whenever I could because I didn't feel comfortable around anyone else. I managed to get through high school and university, but it was a struggle. My marks were never as good as they should have been because I had difficulty keeping up with the work load.

After graduating with a B.A. in Anthropology from Concordia University in Montreal, I moved to Toronto to look for work. I saw everyone around me getting jobs, getting married, having children, buying a house and buying a car. I wasn't doing any of these things. My life seemed to come to a standstill. I thought that there was something wrong with me because I wasn't like everyone else.

The only type of jobs I could ever get were minimum wage, unskilled labour jobs that kept me living in poverty. This made me very frustrated. When I decided not to do this type of work any more, I began to look for other jobs, but couldn't find anything that was suited to me.

My frustration turned to anger. I got into many fights with my family and they had me committed to Sunnybrook Psychiatric Ward for three days against my will because they thought that I was having a nervous breakdown.

The doctors wanted to diagnose me and put me on medication but I fought them the whole time that I was in the hospital. The more that I fought them, the more they were convinced that I was dangerous. The doctors and nurses always brought two guards along with them when they wanted to talk to me because they were afraid that I would hit somone. I never hit anyone because I am not a violent person. I was just angry because I was being held in the hospital against my will. After refusing treatment for three days, the doctors let me go home.

Unable to find work, I was evicted from my apartment and ended up on the street. At first, I began to wonder what I had done that was so terrible that I deserved to live on the street. Then, I started to look at the whole picture. For the first time in my life, I realized that there wasn't just something wrong with me. There was something wrong with the entire economic, social and political system.

That is the reason why I never did things like other people. It wasn't that I couldn't be like other people, I was just looking for something better. However, this attitude made me an outcast.

Living on the street changed my entire outlook on life. It made me more determined than ever to fight poverty and injustice. This fight also made me a stronger person in the process.

Nobody ever thinks they will end up on the street, but it can happen to anybody because there are many things in life you have no control over. Without a place to live, you can't do anything with your life. You can't get a job, go to school or take proper care of your health. You also become very isolated. So your social and employment skills don't develop properly. It's like being locked up in a closet for several years and then being released. You may never be able to adjust to society because of all the abuse you have suffered.

After living on the street for one year and in a single room in a house for 2 years, my COTA Hostel Outreach worker helped me get into supportive housing at Houselink Community Homes. That's when my life began to turn around.

Not only has Houselink given me decent affordable housing and support services, it has given me an opportunity to develop skills I never had a chance to use. This led to my work on the Dream Team, HomeComing Community Choice Coalition, and the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) Board.

I am also a former President of the Houselink Board and former Chairperson of the Toronto East Counselling and Support Service (TECSS) Board.

These volunteer groups see qualities in me nobody else has ever noticed before and they praise my work. So, for the first time in my life, I am developing confidence in myself and I'm getting a chance to help out other people as well as myself. I also enjoy the volunteer work that I do. I never felt this way about any paid job. This made me realize that I was put on this earth to do volunteer work. I never fit into mainstream jobs. If I hadn't ended up on the street, I never would have realized that. The year that I spent on the street was the worst year of my life, but it gave my life meaning.

When you've lived on the street like me, getting a place to live is a miracle because you think you'll never have a place to live again. Houselink houses and supports 500 members nobody else can and therefore has performed 500 miracles. After living on the street, anything positive that happens to me is a miracle because I could just have easily ended up dead. I would not be alive today without supportive housing. Thank you Houselink.