Refugee: Final Journey Statement
During your time with Nisa Homes...
The team there supported you and your daughter and now you feel confident to have a second chance and start a new life. Nisa Homes provided you with a safe place and connected you with a lawyer, who was able to begin the process to sort out your refugee status. Your caseworker was able to help you to make many goals – sometimes it felt like they would be impossible to achieve but you did so well!
You were able to learn how to manage your own finances, and with receiving some financial assistance like gift cards, you were able to get some personal items for you and your daughter. Even this seemingly small thing was enough for you to have hope for the future. With the help of your caseworker, you began taking English lessons and started to build a business plan so that you may be able to sustain yourself in the future. Your Supportive Counsellor was there for you every week for 1:1 sessions and for group sessions with the other ladies.
Learning of your daughter’s diagnosis was another blow, but the team was there to help you to plan and to get all the help and support your daughter needs – starting in the home and with referrals to assistance in the community. Once you found a home to move to, you began to feel as though you were going to be ok and that your new life could begin.
Approximately 20% of the women who seek our help at Nisa Homes are Refugee/Non-status women.
“My name is Sara. I came to Canada to start my new life with my husband, and I did it solely for love. I had hopes and dreams of what my new life would be like with my new environment, husband, and a new system I would have to learn alongside my partner. That turned out to be so far from true.
I came and was isolated from the world; I was told not to volunteer because it was pointless, and my relationship completely altered for the worse. My husband would get upset with me for speaking with my family. He constantly raised his voice, and it was clear that he did not want to start our marriage on the right foot.
I came home one day to an empty apartment, left with only my belongings. It was then that I knew I could not do this alone. I was shortly connected to Nisa Homes where I was able to heal, volunteer, take my classes, and even get a job during a pandemic. I came into that home worried and afraid, and I left stronger than I ever thought I could be."
