Sarah's Story
Safety has not always been a given in Sarah’s life. “I was separated from my family and parents when I was three years old. They struggled with substance abuse and domestic violence, so my siblings and I ended up in foster care pretty early on.” Sarah is of Cree and Ojibwe descent, identifies as Two Spirit, and uses they/them pronouns.
Bouncing from place to place, Sarah went through the system with their younger sister until the stressors of subpar care prompted Sarah to move out at 14. Sarah led a nomadic lifestyle, moving all over Canada (and even joining a carnival at one point!) before returning to BC to go to high school in New Westminster. Completing high school and earning their GED was one of Sarah’s proudest accomplishments.
“But it was around that time that I aged out of care,” Sarah recalls. “So I lost a lot of my support. My mental health wasn't doing very well, because of all the things that I experienced as a child and as a teenager. I really struggled with emotional regulation, trauma, and PTSD.”
As a result of the lack of stability, Sarah developed eating disorders and substance use dependency. They were also made a target for local gangs and were exploited. At their lowest point, they found themself homeless and pregnant—in winter, at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. There were no warm spaces to find shelter and rest. “It was a really, really scary time in my life,” Sarah says.
Determined to change course, Sarah went to give birth at FIR Square, a stabilization program at BC Women’s Hospital, and ended up staying for three months. “The main thing that really helped me was my son. I just kept reminding myself: I'm breastfeeding. I want good things for him. I love him so much. He wakes up with a smile in the morning and I can't get enough of him—he's amazing.”
After a year and a half of working through therapy and recovery and living in a harm reduction building, Sarah moved into UGM’s new Women & Families Centre. The Centre had recently opened, and it was here in this long-awaited building that Sarah began to feel settled for the first time.
“Since moving into UGM, I really feel like I have a home,” they say. “I have a space that’s clean. There are no needles in the hallway, no cockroaches—I can use my kitchen. I finally have a place that is a worthy home for my son, and that's really special.”
Sarah now has a clear picture for the next stage of their life. They’re scheduled to go back to work soon as a research assistant for an organization that charts youth health, drawing from their own experiences to ensure other young people are supported. They plan to eventually earn certification in SMART Recovery in order to continue helping others experience transformation. But more than anything, Sarah is enjoying parenthood. “I’m looking forward to watching my son grow and seeing the kind of person he becomes. He's such a precocious little guy already!”
With so much life experience already behind them, Sarah has grown adept at recognizing the conditions that will let their small family thrive. “UGM provides a safe, stable place that I haven't been able to find elsewhere. They don't offer sobriety-based housing at this level of support anywhere else that I know of. And that's really important to me,” they share. “Where I lived before, it was so lonely. But here at UGM, I’m building a community for my future.”