A Christmas Out of the Cold

How your kindness saved Josephine’s Christmas and changed her life

I remember that bitterly cold evening in late November. Huddled together with my children outside of a shelter, trying desperately to use our body heat for warmth. We had been out there for hours, and there didn’t seem to be an end in sight.

I hadn’t experienced many winters in Canada, so I didn’t know how to dress appropriately for the weather. One of my daughters pressed her face up against the glass, turned to me and asked me a heartbreaking question:

“Mommy, why can’t we go in there and get warm?”

I didn’t know how to answer her as I moved my nearly frozen fingers to press the keypad on my phone.

“Maybe this one will have room for us,” I thought to myself as I called the next shelter on my list.

Another rejection.

“Why do you tell people that there is hope out there?” I said angrily into the phone. “Do you expect us to just go back to the person that we are escaping from?”

Deep down, I knew it wasn’t their fault. They only had so many beds to go around, but at this point, I was so close to giving up. I knew that I had to go on for my children, but the lack of support from friends and family since I left my abusive husband was wearing on me.

I dialled another shelter, this one specifically for women and children escaping violence: Inasmuch House.

By some miracle, they picked up. They didn’t have much space, they told me. We could go sit in their small waiting room in hopes that a room would open up. That small room might as well have been a palace in that moment. It was safe, it was dry, and it was warm.

A room opened up a short while later, and we were able to settle in at Inasmuch House. Having escaped with only the clothes that we were wearing and could carry, we didn’t have much, but with Christmas around the corner, we were safe and warm, and that’s all that mattered.

My children have such pleasant memories from the Christmas that we had at Inasmuch House. Because of people’s donations, we were able to get new clothes and the children got to pick out some new toys. It was the best time of our lives here in Canada. For me, it was the first time that I was able to truly experience the peace that you hear so much about at Christmas.

I still remember my 11-year-old pulling me aside one night to ask me a question.

“Mom, can we stay at Inasmuch House forever?”

This time, I knew the answer.

“No, honey, but soon we will be moving to a new place. A place we can call our own.”

We just moved into subsidized housing. The workers at Inasmuch House helped us in so many ways to make it possible.

They helped me sort out my taxes so that I could receive my child benefits, connected me with my housing opportunity, and introduced me to some courses to make myself more hireable.

It’s a big transition, much like coming to Inasmuch House was in the first place, but this time, I know I have support.

Inasmuch House helped turn my story of fear into one of freedom. I feel like I’m finally able to start my life, and I’m grateful for every opportunity I received from this place.

Our different journeys lead us to different places in our lives, and I am so glad that despite the hardships, mine led me and my children to Inasmuch House.

Josephine’s Story as told to Glen Cuthbert