For children in shelter, gifts are a yearly blessing
Colourful boxes with clothes and candy helps kids in limbo ‘feel normal’ in festive season
Karla Groten arrived at Dr. Roz’s Healing Place one November day 12 years ago, her life in disarray.
With two young children in tow, she was fleeing an abusive relationship that, after six years, had finally pushed her to the breaking point.
“Didn’t know where I was going, what I was doing,” she recalled in an interview this month.
A Scarborough facility that offers shelter for up to 40 women and children who have suffered domestic abuse, Dr. Roz’s Healing Place gave Groten the support she needed to put her life back together. But it took a while for her to get back on her feet. That first year, she had no way to give her son Max, 18 months, and daughter Haley, 2, a normal Christmas.
“Living in a shelter over the holidays, you feel really terrible for the kids. You wish you were in your own home. You don’t have the means to buy presents, that’s for sure,” she said.
But the gift box Groten got from the Toronto Star’s Santa Claus Fund that year helped provide a semblance of normalcy for her children.
“At that point, you’re so broken,” she said. “And just to have that extra something, especially over the holidays, it’s so nice.”
Each year, the Santa Claus Fund gives about 30 gift boxes to Dr. Roz’s Healing Place. Each contains a warm shirt, hat, mitts, socks, a book, toy, candy and toothbrush and toothpaste.
Dr. Roz Roach, the centre’s executive director, told the Star that the donations are more than just gifts — they give stability to kids who are going through a turbulent time. That contributes directly to the centre’s goal, which is to provide abused families with an environment in which they can heal.
“To be able to put a smile on a child’s face, for a child to see that someone remembers, for a child to feel normal — that it’s Christmas and everyone is getting something, and I’m getting something, too — that is very, very positive,” Roach said.
“With the fund, it really takes us a long way.”
Like thousands of other disadvantaged families in the GTA, Groten and her children continued to benefit from the Santa Claus Fund for years after they left the shelter system. As she squeaked by on social assistance cheques that didn’t even cover her rent, the colourful boxes were a yearly blessing. Her daughter, Haley, an avid reader, especially liked the books.
These days, Groten is still at Dr. Roz’s Healing Place, but she’s an employee, not a client. In 2008, she began volunteering at the centre and, in April, she was hired as a front-line case worker. This holiday season, she’ll see from the other side how the women at the shelter are affected by the fund’s gifts. She predicts that many will especially appreciate the donations of winter clothing.
“I have a lot of clients this year that are coming from outside of Canada that have never even seen winter, and they’re freaking out right now. They’re like, ‘we need gloves, we need hats,’ ” she said. “It’s amazing. For them it’s so important.” If you have been touched by the Santa Claus Fund or have a story to tell, please email santaclausfund@thestar.ca.