“Without housing, you cannot live. You need a safe home to live and build a new life and future.”
Leaving one’s homeland to move to a new country can be a difficult journey, especially when arriving in Toronto, a city in the midst of a housing crisis.
This was the case for Zahra, who emigrated from Algiers with great hopes for a new life – never imagining she would need to find emergency shelter in her new country.
At YWCA Toronto, we see many women, girls and families arrive on our shelter doorsteps with stories of turmoil and resilience, and with an urgent need for the most basic of human rights – housing.
That is why YWCA Toronto recently launched our Urgent Home Campaign, calling on the new City Council to address our housing crisis by taking five important actions. If you have not already, you can join the call by sending a letter to the new City Council.
Zahra has recently agreed to share her story in hopes of helping other women who have experienced abuse.
When Zahra and her husband arrived from Algiers in 2016, she was hopeful about her new life. Her family soon expanded to welcome two children. However, her husband’s physical, emotional and financial abuse escalated until she urgently needed to find a safe space for her and her two young children.
She had tried to leave her violent husband in the past but options were limited because he controlled all of her finances. This time, she knew she had to flee but options remained sparse. Zahra called three different shelters before finding YWCA Toronto’s Arise Shelter in 2021.
With the help of a friend and hope for a safe home, Zahra and her children arrived at Arise Shelter one Monday at noon, in the midst of COVID. They were immediately welcomed by staff and assisted by other residents to their new home.
At Arise, Zahra found housing, home, new friendships, community and the supports she needed to become stable and independent. As she explains, “Arise gave us a safe place when we needed it most, and also gave me stability and resources to begin to rebuild my life.”
Through Arise and YWCA Toronto, Zahra accessed English language education to help build her language skills. With the help of support staff, she was able to sever financial ties with her husband and fight for full custody of her children. In Zahra’s own words, “My kids are everything to me, because of their future in Canada especially around education, rights…for them [I want] better.”
Zahra knew finding a new safe permanent home for her and her children was fundamental to building a new life. She soon joined YWCA Toronto’s transitional housing program to begin her journey to find a permanent home. Zahra told us that this program, with its comprehensive workshops, education and staff supports, was essential as she sought the stability and safety that only housing can provide.
With the support of Arise staff and residents, Zahra was finally able to find a permanent, safe home this past year. She told us how important it was that she had advocates on her side to help her find safety and housing: “I am incredibly grateful for everyone who helped me along the way and hope other women in that situation are able to find refuge and support like I did.”
Zahra looks forward to the stability this new development will bring to her life and is excited for the possibilities it creates for her and her children.
Help hold City Council accountable to those most vulnerable amongst us. Please show your support for women like Zahra by sending a letter to City Council today letting them know you too believe housing is a human right.