Josephine’s Story

Josephine is a strong and inspirational woman who has been part of Trellis’ Sustainable Families program since August of 2017. Since then, Trellis has walked alongside Josephine and supported her to exit homelessness, access community supports and develop life skills as she works towards her goals and dreams.

Growing up in Sudan, Josephine experienced severe trauma along with domestic abuse at the hands of an ex-partner. As a result, she has had to work through a variety of mental health challenges. A single mom of six children, Josephine first accessed the Sustainable Families program after struggling with addiction and homelessness. At the time of starting the program, three of her children were in the foster care system with Children’s Services.

Despite these barriers, Josephine was determined to change her life. With Trellis’ support, she started to take brave and intentional steps towards rebuilding her life. She knew in her heart that she wanted to care for her children and was relentlessly driven to work towards her family’s reunification.

In her first few months with Trellis, Josephine completed residential addictions treatment, counselling and parenting programs. She found stable housing immediately and was able to maintain it with support from the Sustainable Families program while working to maintain her sobriety, focus on her well-being and prepare for her children’s return.

In April of 2019 after months of hard work and commitment to her goals, Josephine’s three young children were returned to her care. Josephine’s family has flourished since their return and her Children’s Services Worker stated that she will use this story as “a shining example of what parents in the same situation can achieve.”

Josephine’s family has truly connected with their community. They now attend church and community events each week. The children have friends in their neighbourhood, attend school and creche. Josephine hopes to return to school when her children get older.

Josephine has overcome huge obstacles with the support of Sustainable Families. With her children happily living with their mom in a warm, safe place to call home, Josephine is now moving towards graduation from the program at the end of 2020. “I feel that with [Trellis’] help, I have really bloomed in so many ways and it’s beautiful” shared Josephine. She believes that this success will drive her to continue chasing bigger dreams than she ever thought possible.