Breaking Down Barriers: A Success Story

(All names have been changed)

When Gina, a Family Service Toronto counsellor in the Senior and Caregiver Support Services program, received a call from a social worker at St. Michael’s Hospital, her fight to break down systemic barriers for Anne, her new client, began.

Referred to FST due to cultural and language barriers, Anne was a widow facing many challenges. Brought to Canada from a village and restricted from taking language classes or employment training, Anne was very isolated from society. She did not have friends or a penny to her name and suffered terrible physical and emotional abuse from her much older husband over the course of their 16- year marriage. Anne blamed herself when their son was removed from the home by the Children’s Aid Society and placed into permanent foster care. She was later forced to be her sick husband’s caregiver in the last years of his life. When her husband died he left her unable to survive on her own.

Impoverished and depressed, Anne needed Gina’s help to pick up the pieces of her life. Gina worked with Anne’s doctor, who had no knowledge of her circumstances as Anne’s culture prohibited her from disclosing the years of abuse which resulted in severe depression, physical pain, and an inability to be self-supporting. Together Gina and the doctor worked to submit an application to the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), citing an experience of post traumatic stress disorder. They asked for ongoing financial assistance, community and social supports from the program. The application was successful and ODSP now provides Anne with income security to move forward with her life. Anne sees her son regularly and has help to address her emotional, psychological and physical needs, taking her well down the road to healing.

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