Jasmin's Story
Meet Jasmin. Jasmin is a Case Manager at The Maple, our newest Trellis program that provides supportive housing and connection to community for female adults who have experienced chronic homelessness. Jasmin brings a lot of amazing skills to her role that make her outstanding at supporting women in the program, but above everything else, Jasmin credits her own experiences of homelessness, hardships and overcoming barriers as the reason she is able to support those living at The Maple in such an incredible way.
So let’s start at the beginning.
Jasmin grew up in the system. As a child, she watched her mom make difficult decisions that nobody should have to make to deal with her own pain and trauma. She experienced firsthand what it’s like to have a parent who is struggling with addictions; an experience that for Jasmin meant she never knew when her mom was going to return home and how long she would have to take care of herself and her brother. At the time, Jasmin and her brother accessed programming at Boys & Girls Clubs of Calgary which helped bring stability and support to them during their childhood years.
At age 14, Jasmin moved out to live on her own. By 15, she had given birth to her first child. As a young new mom, the government had temporary guardianship of Jasmin, but she was able to retain custody of her son. She knew if she wanted to live on her own and keep her son with her, it was important to access funding and resources that were available to her, while focusing on getting good grades and keeping up her attendance at school. Not an easy feat for any new mom, but with the support of her case worker at the time, and her own personal ambition, she was able to do it.
By age 18, Jasmin had given birth to her second child. Tragically, the father of her baby was killed shortly after her baby’s birth. While grappling with the emotional trauma of losing her baby’s father, Jasmin had to face the reality of her living situation at the time as well, which meant finding a place to stay at a shelter with her two young children. Within a month of staying at the shelter, Jasmin was put on the emergency list for Calgary Housing and was able to get an apartment for her and her family. That’s when she met Lillian.
Lillian is a Family Strategist with Trellis’ Sustainable Families program (formerly an Aspen program). As part of the Sustainable Families program, Lillian helped Jasmin to get things like clothing and bunkbeds for her kids while connecting her to food programs and other community resources. She also helped Jasmin realize her goal of attending Bow Valley College to become a Hospital Unit Clerk. Upon graduation from Bow Valley College, Jasmin had a great job, stable housing and was doing well, so she officially ‘graduated’ from the Sustainable Families program.
Somewhere deep down, Jasmin knew that she wanted to eventually become a social worker. Growing up as a child in the system, she didn’t feel like she could connect to her social workers. They tried their best to support her, but they just didn’t have the same life experiences as her and she found it hard to relate to them. She knew that if she became a social worker, she would be able to help people differently because she could really understand and relate to their personal experiences.
“It’s easy to tell someone not to do drugs, or to get out of a toxic relationship, but it hits differently when you can get on their frequency and truly understand the steps it takes to get out of those types of situations when you have lived it yourself.”
Fast forward to today and you will find Jasmin truly making the impact she knew she could make. Through her role with Trellis, Jasmin is empowering those living at The Maple to overcome their own obstacles while connecting to their community and building relationships, just like the relationship she herself built with Lillian when she was a program participant years ago. The mother of three today, with a thriving 15-year-old, 12-year-old and 6-year-old is an inspiration and mentor to many at Trellis.