One of the longterm tenants in our Affordable Housing Program, Joan Okemow, was featured in a CBC Saskatchewan article about grandmothers raising multiple generations of their family. We see this everywhere in our communities.

As the article notes, Canada is experiencing a drug toxicity crisis fueled by synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Joan’s family members are overdosing before they have the chance to recover as she was able to.

“[Joan] is now raising three grandchildren and one great-grandchild, all of whom know her as their mama. She’s trying her best to be a bulwark for them, to shelter them from the pangs of hunger and dysfunction that she faced herself as a child of residential schools.”

When we spoke to Joan about the article, she said it’s a bittersweet reality and spoke passionately about sounding the alarm on the drug poisoning crisis that is robbing people of the chance to live to see recovery. There is so much work to be done to address the injustices that exacerbate this crisis. In the meantime, we are very proud to provide a stable, affordable home for four generations of Joan’s family as they work towards healing.

Please take the time to read the full article here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/grandmothers-step-up-raise-children-orphaned-1.7253164