How believing in people changes lives

“When my mother told my father she was pregnant with me, she ended up in the hospital,” says Amanda. “You see, they’d only been together a few times and when he found out, he beat her up. He wasn’t interested in a child and that’s all I know of him.” Amanda is matter of fact in her delivery. She is not seeking sympathy or looking for a reaction of any kind. It’s just the way things were in her life. Amanda is 24 years old and had a harder childhood than many. But she is healthy, strong and focussed. Much of this she attributes to the strong support she got from an after-school program funded by United Way. Amanda’s mother had an unhealthy upbringing.  She didn’t know her father either and her step-dad was abusive. She left home at a fairly young age. “My mother was an amazing woman, but she had an unhealthy upbringing. I think maybe this is why my mother suppressed her feelings through addiction.” After Amanda’s step-father pulled a gun, Amanda and her brother went to live permanently with foster parents. “They provided us a place to stay and made sure we went to school, but I couldn’t come home and talk about feelings,” she says about her foster parents. Amanda’s world opened up when she started attending an after-school program in her neighbourhood at Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House funded by United Way. “Being at home was hard. Being at an after-school program at a neighbourhood house was easy,” she explains. “There, I was safe to open up to the staff, the teen leaders and the other kids. I could be there and not have to worry about things. They were so understanding.” Many of Amanda’s friends at the after-school program didn’t have the easiest lives either. The difference to Amanda and these kids is that somebody believed in them, supported them, “so they could tap into their potential.” Amanda says that they needed some guidance – a family – to set an example for them. Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House was Amanda’s home away from home. “I was able to meet new friends – a good group of kids – who made better decisions that were more focused on school and healthy activities not destructive ones. It helped me make the right choices.” Every year, United Way invests $10 million to help children succeed in school and in life. Now Amanda has a full-time job and is studying to be a nutritionist. She is grateful for the support of United Way so that she can reach her potential. None of the work United Way does would be possible without the generous support of donors. Thank you.