In 2014, I was homeless and lived on the street for three months. I stopped eating and rapidly lost 40lbs. My kidneys began to fail and I didn’t even have the energy to walk anymore. I had given up hope. One day, I laid down on the park bench that I often slept on and I closed my eyes – I thought that was going to be my last day.

Today, I’m doing better than ever, thanks to the support I received at Salus.

I was born in Chile and also lived in Argentina with my mom and siblings before moving to Canada in 1991. We lived through two terrifying military dictatorships, where my family and I were forced to flee our home. As a child, I was in constant fear. Those experiences marked me deeply and I believe they led to my depression as a teenager.

I remember crying a lot and I was very angry with life, but my mother didn’t want me to go to therapy because of the stigma associated with mental illness – especially in my culture. And three decades ago, mental health wasn’t talked about much yet.

In spite of my undiagnosed and untreated depression as a teen, I went on to live a good life in my 20s and 30s. I obtained a degree in Cytotechnology and a second degree in international relations and sociology. In Canada, I worked successfully for 20 years as a lab technologist specializing in cancer screening and analysis.

But just like any physical illness that goes untreated for a long period of time, my depression worsened during that time. I also began to unknowingly develop symptoms of schizophrenia, such as paranoid and disorganized thinking.

I sought support from doctors, but they didn’t help me. I left each appointment feeling discouraged and persecuted by them. I began to think they were all against me.

I eventually became so paranoid that my managers were targeting me and trying to fire me, that I ended up quitting my job. I sold my house, cashed in my savings and moved back to Argentina where I isolated for six years, until my savings began to dwindle.

Since my family wasn’t giving me support, I decided to move back to Canada. I bought a plane ticket and found an apartment for one year. But at that point, I was in the depths of my paranoia and I began to hear voices. I completely ran out of money and instead of asking for help, I just walked away from my apartment.

I left everything that I owned and the life that I knew behind. I was entirely alone, with no money, no home and struggling with my untreated schizophrenia. I had given up on life.

When I woke up after laying down on that park bench in 2014, I was in a hospital bed, thanks to strangers who had called 911. I spent the following two months in community housing, on the street again and back in the hospital where I was finally stabilized with the right medication.

Another patient at the hospital told me about Ottawa Salus and how incredible they were. I talked to my doctor and she agreed it would be a good fit to help me get back on my feet. I was referred to the Transitional Rehabilitation Housing Program (TRHP) at Salus for one year…

That was in December 2014, and I can confidently say that the TRHP and Salus staff saved my life.

With Salus by my side, I regained the confidence that I had lost all those years ago.

It was as though I had to relearn everything again. I had case managers and community developers who taught me basic life skills. Things like money management, cooking lessons, how to clean and keep up with daily life. I began to feel that sense of community again. And I even went back to school that year to obtain a diploma in public policy and program evaluation.

The two Salus recreologists, Julie and Denis, even encouraged me to run a 5K race. I went to all the training sessions they offered and with their help, I did it! Mind you, I was one of the last people to finish the race, but I still did it. The support I received at Salus was fantastic…

Julie ran beside me the whole time – she never left my side. Salus never left my side, and neither did people like you.

My case manager, Rosa, helped me so much. She was really understanding. I couldn’t even begin to think about applying for a job again, but Rosa worked with me weekly, one-on-one – to build my confidence and empower me to write my resume and apply for jobs.

Thanks to her ongoing support, and never giving up on me even when I wanted to give up on myself, I found a job.

For the past three years, I’ve had a full-time job in the government and I live in an apartment with two roommates who have become great friends to me. One of my roommates is like a sister. We travel all over together and have so much fun.

I finally have a good support system and a fulfilling life again, thanks to the care and support I received from Salus over an eight-year period.

Without them, I would still be on a disability program, I wouldn’t have had the self-confidence to look for a job, I might even still be on the streets – or worse.

The key to Salus is the supportive housing they provide to their tenants. They don’t just house people through affordable housing – they also offer the mental health support and resources to every tenant who is willing to receive the help and begin the journey to a better life.

Salus frontline staff work hard to connect people to their community, to themselves and to the life they are meant to live.

I still have my fears in life, but now I take it one day at a time. I know that I have the skills to cope with whatever comes my way. You never know what life is going to bring, but I now know that there are people out there who truly care. I wish I had known about Salus years ago, but I’m just so happy that I found them before it was too late.

We all deserve a life filled with meaning and hope, regardless of what life throws our way.

Acknowledged widely as a cutting-edge approach to recovery support, Salus’ existing Rehabilitation Programs that include our Forensic Supportive Housing Program (FSHP) and our Transitional Rehabilitation Housing Program (TRHP) both work to provide intensive support to adults recovering from mental illness, while living in a neighbourhood setting.

This innovative approach aims to adapt programs to clients, as opposed to clients adapting to programs and in doing so, we remove barriers to community integration. These two specialized programs have proven to be a highly effective approach that supports people who are leaving mental health hospitals and having difficulty accessing mental health services.

The success of FHSP/TRHP, much like the evidenced-based Housing First model, requires a good supply of affordable housing, strong relationships with landlords and implementation of mental health support, which can be significant challenges in tight rental markets.

In order to better support our partner hospitals and grow our capacity in the number of tenants coming from the hospital system that we can house and support, Salus is implementing a new condominium program. With community support, our program goal over the next five years, is to acquire and rent ten one-bedroom condominium units across Ottawa, for clients of the FHSP/TRHP programs.

As an organization well versed in both its landlord and support roles, we follow the evidenced-based Housing First approach to this condominium program. The main program benefits are the removal of barriers to housing, anonymity for our clients, increased flexibility for FHSP/TRHP’s to serve gender diverse individuals and women (our existing FSHP can only house men), and to address the lack of affordable rental housing in Ottawa.

We are thrilled to share with you that thanks to past donor support and funding from the government, we have one condo purchased already, with two more successful bids awaiting inspection. This inspiring new program will help to provide one home at a time for people leaving the mental health hospital system and requiring intensive mental health support, all while integrating into the community.

If you would like to learn more about our plans for Salus’ condo program or if you’re interested in supporting this initiative, please contact Heather Brown, Senior Manager of Philanthropy at Salus at hbrown@salusottawa.org.

Sophie Leclair-Roberge, one of our Community Developers at Salus, is continuously coming up with new ways to provide group recovery programs to her clients. She discovered Jesse Maione through another local non-profit organization. Jesse is a trauma-informed yoga instructor, trained to teach vulnerable populations, and dedicated to creating inclusivity and accessibility in the yoga and mindfulness industry.

For the past eight weeks, Jesse has been teaching mindfulness once a week to clients at one of our Salus buildings and the feedback has been incredible. “My goal with the mindfulness sessions is to have our clients feel healthier – both physically and mentally,” says Sophie. “I wanted to offer this to our clients, so that they could learn concrete tools and coping strategies for when they’re feeling anxious and depressed.”

Jesse comes to each session with a theme as well as a check-in question to ground everyone. The questions are as simple as asking the class what colour their mood would be if it was a colour – and then a check-out question at the end of the class to ask them if their colour has changed. She brings various techniques to the sessions such as visualization, grounding, body scanning, breath work, meditation, chair yoga and practicing gratitude.

One Salus client, Eric, spoke about how Jesse and her mindfulness sessions have had a tremendous impact on his own well-being. “Jesse treats everyone as valuable,” says Eric. “Mindfulness helps my mental health, it helps me focus, it’s entertaining, and it helps with socialization and resilience. And even after Jesse leaves, we still have the skills to be able to do the techniques ourselves at home.”

Jesse’s experience working in the non-profit sector has been her motivation to create more inclusive and accessible wellness practices – not just for people with a higher socio-economic status, but for everyone.

“I never really know what any individual person has gone through in their lives, but I will often have people come up to me after class and tell me about how they’re struggling with anxiety and depression,” says Jesse. “They’ll tell me how much they look forward to coming to my class each week, because it’s a chance for them to just be – no expectations, no right or wrong, it’s a space where they can feel safe in their body.”

Jesse explains how trauma often lives in the body and can lead to long-term physical and mental health problems. “One client told me that since coming to my class, when she goes to sleep now, her shoulders drop a little easier.”

Our Salus clients live with severe and persistent mental illness. To have this type of mindfulness training on a weekly basis is invaluable to help them cope, even through the simplest situations in life, such as feeling overwhelmed while grocery shopping.

“Thanks to Jesse and what she’s bringing weekly with her mindfulness sessions, my clients are calmer, they feel more connected to themselves and one another,” says Sophie. “As a Community Developer, one of my goals is to have my clients interact with each other positively, and with their neighbours and community.” Sophie works to help Salus clients reach self-actualization – explore who they are and what their purpose is, to help their community and reach their full potential in life.

Wellness programs such as mindfulness and yoga are essential for people who are on their journey of recovery.

Salus relies on donor support to go above and beyond for our clients in providing resources like Jesse’s sessions. We are so grateful to you for your support, for your compassion to our cause and for wanting to make a difference in our community.