Testimonials

"I am writing this letter to personally thank each and every one of you that gives this Christmas to the Christmas fundraiser **sponsor a family campaign**. Whatever it is you give, I want you to know the miracle that you create for women and children in your community living in fear and uncertainty. Twenty years ago, my children and I went to My Sister’s Place. My son was twelve years old, my daughter eleven. We were frightened, vulnerable, helpless and so afraid of what the future would bring. With amazing care, services and support offered to us by My Sister’s Place and their Outreach program, we began to put our lives back together. We were under their umbrella of care for a while after living at the shelter. In time we healed and not only survived but thrived. The first Christmas we were on our own was looking pretty bleak. I struggled with how to make this a happy time for the kids. We so enjoyed our “ritual” of picking and decorating a tree, but I couldn’t afford one so we improvised and decorated a plant and made a “Christmas Corner”. It was great but my heart was breaking. I had no gifts to put in the “Christmas Corner”. I could fill their stockings, but a gift from Santa was pretty near impossible. I knew they were old enough to understand, but I ached inside. The night before Christmas Eve there was a knock at the door. I opened it and on my porch were 3 boxes filled with wrapped gifts from My Sister’s Place. One for my son, one for my daughter and one for ME! I couldn’t believe they had presents for me too! I put all the gifts in the “Christmas Corner” and cried with amazement and gratitude. My Sister’s Place made our Christmas. They brought us a Christmas miracle that I will never, ever forget. The joy that rang out from our “Christmas Corner” Christmas morning could be heard throughout the Universe. My Sister’s Place does the amazing work it does, in good part, due to the generosity of the people in this community. They have various fundraisers throughout the year, and of course you can contact them any time to see how you can help. By telling a bit of my story, I hope you see that your donations at Christmas have a magical impact on women and children accessing the shelter’s services. You’re Earth angels creating Christmas miracles! "

"I found myself at my sisters place during a very volatile divorce. My children were so young. It was such a hard time. I was dealing with abuse on multiple levels. The women running the shelter and the volunteers, we’re able to direct me to services that I needed. They gave me resources like lists of lawyers, housing assistance, info for subsidized child care and so on. It would have taken me a month to figure all that out. They offered counseling and assisted with helping me understand what to look out for in a relationship and what a healthy one looked like. I met a women in there who also had 2 children. We still keep in contact to this day. I got back on my feet within two months. Got an apartment, a new bank account of my own, I had a part time small business that I started pouring my heart into. It got really big. I was in magazines and won awards. A combination of a car accident and the government’s mis-management of Covid resulted in me having to close my business. I went back to school at U of T. I became a group and clinical hypnotist. I am also a relationship coach. I wanted to help others in situations like I had been in. I now help with anxiety, depression, relationships and an array of challenges that people need help conquering. I met a wonderful man, am remarried and have 4 children now. I have a beautiful home and a beautiful life. I know how defeated you feel being in a shelter, but if you want to change your life the tools you need to get started are available to you. Talk to the women there. They are amazing and want to see you succeed. "

"I stayed at MSP and bounced back and forth due to a very abusive partner who knew how to get me back every time. I was finally able to leave for good but realized at MSP with counseling that my abuse had not started from my partner but from childhood and thinking the abuse I received from my parents was love. IT WAS NOT LOVE. MSP did help us, BUT we had to help ourselves by making that first step toward recovery and making that call to talk to MSP. ♥ We can now identify an abuser and stay away from the toxic environment as well as help others to empower them and break any cycles in the family."