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A Mother Finds Community

By: Oak Park Neighbourhood Centre

What have you most loved and appreciated about the work of the organization that you are involved in?

The weight of being a newcomer is one thing. The weight of being a single mother is another.

But advocating for two children with severe disabilities, in a new country, in a new language, within a system I did not understand was a weight that reshaped my entire life.

My days were filled with appointments and paperwork. Stable work felt impossible, while expenses continued to grow. I fought for my children with determination, but the loneliness was overwhelming.

Then I walked into Oak Park Neighbourhood Centre.

A staff member greeted me in my first language, and a wall I didn’t even realize I was carrying simply dissolved. My children and I were seen.

Oak Park Neighbourhood Centre became my guides and my partners.

The Food Bank meant I no longer had to choose between a full fridge and paying a bill. Help with a utility payment felt like breathing again in a room that had run out of air. Car seats for my children meant appointments were no longer a dangerous journey.

An Inclusion Specialist gave me tools. A support group gave me friends.

They did not see a case file. They saw me.

During the holidays, gifts arrived through the Holiday Cheer program. For my children it was magic. For me it was a message:

You belong here. Your family’s joy matters to us.

The challenges in my life have not disappeared. My children’s needs still guide every decision I make. But the crushing isolation has been replaced by a network of care.

Oak Park Neighbourhood Centre restored my capacity to hope.

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This post is part of a larger CDH Member Story Project. The intent is to share the depth of our non-profit sector, name how community can support and imagine together what is possible through the non-profit sector to ensure Halton is a health, inclusive and resilient place to live. 

Are you a CDH member and want to let your story to the project. You can get started HERE.