Since immigrating to Canada, life has been an uphill battle for Samar, a single parent. She says securing enough food and affordable housing are big issues facing her family of four.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t sleep at night,\u201d says Samar. \u201cI worry about feeding my children. They ask for milk and cereal and I can\u2019t afford to give it to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1991 Samar came to Canada from Lebanon to marry a fianc\u00e9 chosen by her family. \u201cMy future was unknown, I had to learn English and about the culture,\u201d says Samar. \u201d It was a big step.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the next few years Samar\u2019s relationship with her husband became increasingly unstable. Then, when his threats and verbal abuse escalated to violence, she left the marriage. \u201cMy girls were five and six years old,\u201d says Samar. \u201cI was by myself in a new country, not working and had no one to turn to.\u201d<\/p>\n
A friend told Samar about The Salvation Army. Here she received Christmas assistance, emotional and practical support. \u201cThey helped me a lot,\u201d says Samar.<\/p>\n
Samar eventually remarried and had three more children. Life was good until her husband was deported because he wasn\u2019t a permanent resident of Canada.<\/p>\n
\nIf it wasn\u2019t for The Salvation Army I would have been literally on the streets.<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cWhen my husband was deported I moved to Windsor, Ont., to find more affordable housing,\u201d says Samar. \u201cMeanwhile, I lived with my cousin. But when her children contracted a virus I had to leave. \u00a0If it wasn\u2019t for The Salvation Army I would have been literally on the streets. They provided me shelter and food.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samar eventually secured housing, but the cost of rent and utilities meant there was little left for food.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a bad situation and hard for me to deny my kids basic food,\u201d says Samar. \u201cNow, with help from The Salvation Army, we have food and hope.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy kids are happy and that makes me happy,\u201d says Samar. \u201cMeanwhile, my husband is applying for Canadian citizenship and my story will get better. I just have to be patient.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since immigrating to Canada, life has been an uphill battle for Samar, a single parent. She says securing enough food and affordable housing are big issues facing her family of four. \u201cI don\u2019t sleep at night,\u201d says Samar. \u201cI worry about feeding my children. They ask for milk and cereal and I can\u2019t afford to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[17,14],"tags":[],"location":[],"class_list":["post-2735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-us","category-featured"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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