Community. This is a word that Patricia uses a lot when she shares about the impact that Ray-Cam Co-operative Centre, located in Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood, has had on her and her family’s life. Patricia started attending this United Way-supported agency in 2010, bringing her then two-year-old son, Hayden, to the centre’s daycare. She was bravely forging her own path, having separated from Hayden’s father, and Ray-Cam staff were there to support her through this transition. Their readiness to listen and help is something Patricia values to this day. “If you need to talk to any of the staff about anything, they’re all approachable,” she says. “All of them.” Patricia moved away to Coquitlam for a few years, but returned to East Vancouver in September 2014 – with her new partner, Hayden and their infant son, Ellis. Returning to the Ray-Cam community was, in many ways, a homecoming for this young mom. “They’ve always been there,” she says. “Nothing’s changed. It’s still family here.” It was this family that Patricia turned to in order to recover from the loss of her son Nicholas – Ellis’ twin brother. “Last year was our first year without Nicholas, the one year anniversary. It was hard. I was in a hole,” she says. Ray-Cam staff “helped me be able to talk about Nicholas. Before I wasn’t able to. I was just really closed in about him. Now I can actually say his name without bawling my eyes out.” Today, life is busy and full for Patricia. She’s greatly involved in the life of Ray-Cam, and has served on its Board of Directors, and on other community boards. She is also a proud mom to Hayden, Ellis, and now baby daughter, Lavina – as well as to her partner’s four kids. Her family – both literal and metaphorical – has grown. One of Patricia’s biggest hopes for her children is that they grow up to be “community people” – those to whom others in Strathcona can turn for help. For herself, Patricia is intent on finishing school and dreams of one day becoming a community service worker or a staff member at Ray-Cam. Her reason is simple: she wants to give back to her community. To those who give to United Way British Columbia so that we can continue to help families like Patricia’s in Strathcona, she shares this message: “Look at our neighbourhood,” she says. “We’re only four or five blocks away from Main and Hastings, one of the roughest places in North America. [Kids] are not trying to look down there. They’re staying here in this little community because of the funding. So [donors] are keeping our kids safe. They’re keeping our families safe. They’re keeping the single moms having hope, having some place to go.” “I just love coming here and I want my kids to grow up around here. It’s a community and Ray-Cam is what brings us all together.” Behind every changed life is someone who made it happen. Help build strong communities in neighbourhoods like Strathcona. Please give.
