Jasmine’s pathway into homelessness is one that is all too common: rife with ups and downs, successes and failures and suffering consequences because of addiction in the family.
“I grew up way too young.” Without going into detail, she shares that, “At 16, I quit school, moved out of home and was on my own. I did what I had to do.”
Jasmine had been living with the father of her children and as far as she knew, they were paying rent. She was contributing and he was in charge of paying the bills. Their rent went unpaid for several months as her partner suffered from a gambling addiction she wasn’t aware of.
“That was really stressful, we were owing something like $7,000. He was gambling it away and I didn’t know that.”
The relationship broke down and Jasmine struggled. She stayed with some family members temporarily, but because her family all suffer from alcohol and drug addiction, she was not able to stay with them long term and Jasmine found herself homeless.
“It was the worst time of my life; like the worst.”
Jasmine stayed for a short period at Inn from the Cold’s Emergency Family Shelter and was luckily accepted into Calgary Housing shortly after.
However, because the stress of her situation, the breakdown of her relationship, and the history of addiction in her family, Jasmine went down the dark and torturous path of addiction herself. Her children were taken out of her care for a month and she went into a treatment program.
“They (Alcove) have a family program where my kids transitioned back into my care while I was in treatment,” reflects Jasmine.
Once Jasmine finished her treatment, she moved into Journey House.
“When I first moved in, Randy and Renee (Journey House staff), are two of the nicest people I’ve ever met. They helped me with moving, which is awesome, I didn’t think anyone would help me, I usually just do it myself.”
Jasmine and her children flourished with the support, care and programs of Journey House. “I loved it,” shares Jasmine. Jasmine has since moved on from Journey House and is on a positive and hopeful path. She plans to finish her high school diploma and her first priority is to raise her children with love, care and stability and give them the things that she did not have growing up.
