Lisa is a young mom with a brand new baby.
The father of Lisa’s baby had violently abused Lisa and as often happens, the abuse had gotten even worse during Lisa’s pregnancy.
Lisa knew she could not live with him when their baby was born.
Lisa had grown up in foster care and the only person she knew to turn to for help was the social worker she had known as a teenager. The social worker got Lisa to contact Nicole at The Cridge Young Parent Outreach Program (YPOP).
Nicole and Lisa worked fast! Within a month Nicole had helped Lisa find housing and get what she needed to furnish her new place from Annie’s Closet in Colwood. Nicole also helped Lisa create a safety plan to keep herself and her baby safe. This included getting Lisa to Legal Aid so she could get a lawyer to help her apply for a Protection Order and guardianship of her baby. Lisa got all the baby clothes she needed from the bountiful stash in Nicole’s office, thanks to the generosity of Sailor Jack’s in Vic West. With all of the trips they made together in the Cridge YPOP van, Nicole took the opportunity to teach Lisa how to correctly install a baby car seat. It was a very full month!
Lisa and Nicole stay connected as Nicole continues to support Lisa to be safe and to be the mom she wants to be for her baby. There are many young moms like Lisa who are connected with Nicole in The Cridge Young Parent Outreach Program. The months are always busy and in the words of one young mom, “Nicole has been there to support me from the beginning of my struggles and through all of my most recent successes.” We wish Lisa many successes!