Our Blog Stories

No doubt we all have memories of the school yard bullies. Who could forget them? These bullies bestowed harmful physical and emotional treatment upon peers. And most of time, it included the cruellest names and labels. Names that stuck like mud. Names and labels that were often so much more than just words.

They pierced the very core of a tender and fragile formative child’s heart. And sometimes, they even shaped and fashioned one’s lifelong identity. […]

One of my last pre COVID celebrations was a Christmas party in the park with a group of women experiencing homelessness. By the end of the day I was sitting on a bench with Lee. I had known Lee for years. She was constantly in and out of prison and we were catching up, it had been a while.

There is an ancient Greek emotion called acedia.  It’s that feeling of listlessness, indifference, fear and uncertainty. This was Lee. She had always been feisty and funny. But on this day she was deflated and empty. Years of imprisonment, and a string of male relatives with criminal records, had left her without hope and stained by association. In her words, “whether I’ve done something or not, everyone always thinks I’m guilty.” Why couldn’t Lee break this cycle? […]