Determined young mother waiting for her break

At 27, Catherine has already lived through more than a lifetime’s worth of dark days.

After a childhood marked by violence and abuse, the young mother is stretching her resources to raise her 3-year-old daughter on social assistance.

“You have to be resourceful and have imagination,” she said. “You don’t want to waste what you have.”

Catherine is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. After she was removed from her family home at the age of seven, she was shuffled through a series of foster homes.

Although she left the last of those homes before she turned 18, Catherine says the neglect and beatings she experienced there left mental scars.

She said the cycle of abuse continued when she ended up with a boyfriend who constantly called her “garbage” and said she would never amount to anything.

“I left because of her,” she said, gesturing to her blond toddler playing quietly in a corner of the room. “I didn’t want her to live that.”

Catherine suffers from epileptic seizures, which she says are triggered by stress. This makes it hard for her to get hired and handle the stress of a job, she says.

Although she lives on social assistance, Catherine says she makes up for it by actively volunteering in her east-end neighbourhood of Anjou.

She works at a community kitchen, where she says she loves cooking big meals for others, as well as at two other community organizations.

Catherine says she has learned to be extremely frugal to make sure her daughter has everything she needs. She shops only at thrift stores, and sometimes gets leftover food from her volunteer job.

She has also formed a supportive network with some other women in similar circumstances. They trade children’s’ clothes and toys, and sometimes cook for each other.

“We share so everyone has enough,” she said.

Catherine and her daughter are among the thousands who will receive a $125 cheque from the Gazette Christmas Fund this year. The money helps needy families and individuals get through the holiday season.

Catherine says she will use the money to buy her daughter a Christmas present. The rest will go to food.

She admits to being depressed at times, but says the people at the organizations she volunteers for give her encouragement.

“They tell me ‘don’t give up, life will give you a break,’ ” she said. “So far, I’m still waiting for that break.”