A ’60s Scoop Survivor Shares How The Salvation Army Helped Transform Her Life

For the past 20 years, Vonda Knipfel has worked as the suppertime cook at The Salvation Army’s Waterston Centre in Regina. It is a job she loves and that helped bring stability to her life. However, the journey to get there was not an easy one.

Vonda is a survivor of the “’60s Scoop”, a period in which a series of government policies allowed authorities to remove Indigenous children from their families and place them in foster care or adopt them out to non-indigenous families. Despite the uphill battle she faced since childhood, Vonda always showed resilience.

In the fall of 2003, as a single mother of four children, Vonda became unemployed. While looking for a job, she enrolled herself and her children as volunteers for The Salvation Army. Initially, the purpose was to keep her pre-teens off the streets.

“I lived only five blocks away from The Salvation Army. It was a safe place for my three daughters to go and volunteer,” Vonda says.

“They did a lot for my family during Christmas.”

The Salvation Army had been present in Vonda’s life before that. In the 1990s, the Army provided Christmas hampers to her children. It has always been something Vonda’s family has been thankful for.

“My kids were just absolutely thrilled and ever grateful for everything that we received. They did a lot for my family during Christmas,” Vonda shares.

In January of 2004, while volunteering, Vonda was asked by a member of The Salvation Army if she knew how to cook. Vonda said yes, and within a day she was hired as a cook at the Waterston Centre, a transitional shelter for men.

“I was doing volunteer work around the city trying to find work. This opportunity landed on my lap,” Vonda remembers.

Since then, Vonda has enjoyed every bit of her job. She tries to make meals as interesting and delightful as she can for the 50 to 60 residents she serves daily.

“They had a huge impact. They pretty much took me out of poverty.”

“There are so many people here with interesting stories. They are all here for different reasons. Whether it be addiction or mental health, they all have their own stories. I like to listen and be supportive. They tell me a little bit every day. They trust me,” she says.

Today Vonda looks back and reflects on how this opportunity with The Salvation Army changed her life.

“The Salvation Army has been a constant in my life since the 90s. They had a huge impact. They pretty much took me out of poverty,” Vonda shares. “I bought a house recently. A five-bedroom house big enough to move my daughter and her kids in.”

Looking forward, Vonda hopes to continue to work for The Salvation Army until she retires. Currently, she is also working on a personal memoir she hopes to publish, in which she describes her journey as a “Scoop Survivor”.

By Juan Romero