Tonya's story

September 11, 2008

Without her realizing it, United Way has been a frequent companion for Tonya as she lifted herself out of despondency and grew into an active member of the community.
 
The relationship started when she was a young mom. She had her first child, a boy, as a teenager and later two more boys. The family had moved to a new area where Tonya had few friends and she felt herself slowly slipping into depression.

One neighbour she knew only slightly invited her to a program for moms called Divas at the Crouch Neighbourhood Resource Centre, a United Way funded organization.

“It was a time to be you instead of mom,” Tonya says of Divas. The members vented with one another, supported one another, gave each other parenting tips and did crafts together. It lifted Tonya’s spirits significantly and she keenly recruited new members.

In time, she “branched out” from being a participant to being a volunteer at the Crouch resource centre. And her volunteering doesn't stop with Crouch. With her children – now 10, eight and five years old – enrolled in school, she became active in Home and School at the school and school board levels. And she’s been coaching baseball for four years.

It wasn’t until later that Tonya realized how much United Way had touched her life with the programs it supports. Even before she became active at Crouch, she had received help from Youth Opportunities Unlimited, another United Way funded organization.

These days, her experience with United Way funded agencies has inspired her to become a more active community member.

“I had a feeling of being needed and a chance to broaden my horizons,” she says of her experience as a volunteer. “I’d been given so many opportunities and chances. It made me want to give back to the community after it had given so much to me.”