Children’s services providing the supports for youth to thrive
Growing up, Samantha Tufford was fairly certain about one thing: She would not be receiving a post-secondary education.
Instead, she resigned herself to scraping by in order to graduate high school and then go out into the workforce and take whatever job she could find. To be sure, there are worse things in life, but for Samantha, it wasn't exactly her dream.
Now Samantha is realizing her dream. She just finished her third year at Brock, where she is studying English language and literature with the hopes of becoming an English professor.
A big part of the reason for her success is the support she received from Family and Children’s Services Niagara (FACS).
At age 12, Samantha’s older sister, Laura, who was only 16 at the time, filed for custody in order to remove Samantha from a difficult home situation with her parents. After court proceedings Laura was granted custody of her sister a year later.
“I grew up really fast,” Laura said of having to become her sister’s primary caregiver. Fortunately, the two had support, including regular visits from caseworkers and a tutor to help Samantha when she was struggling during her last year of high school.
And when she was starting at Brock, Samantha was able to obtain a bursary, which covered the costs of books and other expenses and allowed her to stop working multiple jobs and focus on her studies.
Now 19, Samantha is living independently in her own place in St. Catharines; her sister, though, lives just down the road.
Laura recently completed two years of police foundations and is now the supervisor for a security company in Hamilton, the first woman to hold that position.
She said the support from FACS was crucial to both her and Samantha’s success.
On Wednesday during FACS’ 120th annual general meeting, Tufford was one of 32 young people under agency care to receive financial assistance for post-secondary education and job skills training. In all, more than $60,000 in assistance was distributed.
The meeting was held at Heartland Forest in Niagara Falls and included representation from the region’s Indigenous community, including traditional food offerings and an opening and closing ceremony.