Impact Stories

We moved to the Lower Mainland when I was 12 years old and I ended up in foster care shortly thereafter. My mom struggled with mental illness and wasn’t able to take care of me the way she wanted. Ultimately, she passed away a few years later.

“I’m always counting down to payday,” Allice shares. “The week before payday, I usually run out of food. It’s so hard when Chris tells me that he’s so hungry and I have to explain to him that payday is coming soon.”

When we first met Jaimie-Lea and her three children, her husband, Joe, had just stopped working. He had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

For years, TK has lived on the poverty line and has been on and off of welfare. As a single mom with two kids with significant, unique needs—her daughter has autism and her son is deaf—TK’s ability to work has been limited and her resources are always stretched to the max.

“Over the past eleven years, my husband and I have taken in four of our grandchildren so they wouldn’t be left in the foster care system,” Frieda explains to us.

“We have a very limited food budget each month. To make it through, we rely on Backpack Buddies.”

At 43 years old, Bertie made a decision that would completely change the course of her life. Bertie left her career at Service Canada to become the adopted mother of Tristyn—a 4lb 11oz newborn who was fighting for his life.