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The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday O cto b e r 23, 2002 - A 5 Salvation Army shelter provided safety net for young single mother By Howard Mozel 0 ,\K V IL L E B E A V E R S T A F F C O R R EC TIO N N O TIC E Please be advised th a t there was an error in the "A da's Flowers "ad th a t ran o n S unday O ct. 20. It should have read "please visit our w ebsite at w w w .a d a sflo w e rs.c o m " Z ' ZO Zn22ZZZZZZ22ZZZZZZZZl Z ZZZZZ2fy N o matter what you think o f Laura Martin, the young single mother rescued from homelessness by the Salvation Army is absolutely determined not to slip through the cracks - ever. "I want to give my son the best I can," she says. "I'm still doing everything to better myself." Two years ago. Martin was a Grade 12 Queen Elizabeth Park School student who lived on her own and held down two part-time jobs when she became pregnant by a man who didn't stick around. (Martin's parents had moved to British Columbia four years ago, but she stayed behind in Oakville determined to graduate from a "real" high school.) Worried about the effects of other residents' second-hand smoke on her unborn child, Martin moved out of her basement apartment and into a room in a house, whereupon the owners decided to live there, forcing all the tenants to find new lodg ings. Martin - who graduated high school in June 2001 - moved into her sister's Burlington co-op, but building bylaws allowed her to stay only three months. Before she had to leave, though, Martin gave birth to Damian at home with her sister's help. Time finally ran out, however, and new mother Martin was faced with having nowhere to live. "I couldn't afford anything. I only had $400 a month on El," said Martin, who at the time was on maternity leave from her pair of part-time jobs. "I was caught between a rock and a hard place. "It was an awful lot of stress and a weight on my shoulders," she continued. `T here was no per manent place for my son and that was really frus trating. I felt I was doing everything I possibly could and it wasn't working out. I made a con scious effort to keep my spirits up for Damian." Fortunately, a staff member with Halton Region's Healthy Babies Health Children program referred Martin to the Salvation Army, which found her transitional housing in a motel. "They helped us through a short period when we had nowhere to go," said Martin, who kept looking for a permanent home. The Sally Ann then came through with an Laura Martin and her son Damian Oakville apartment since, as a single mother in need of privacy and quiet, she was not a candidate for the Lighthouse. Women's shelters could not take her because Martin was not abused. The young mom kept calling around for a per manent address and lucked out at last with a vacancy at a co-op in the same neighbourhood she lived with her parents. Re-connected with the community, Martin has re-established friendships and feels part of the town again. "All my support systems are here in Oakville," she said. Martin is now taking Recreation and Leisure Services at Mohawk College thanks to student loans and sometime down the road she would like to create an agency that provides recreational activities for residents of low-income housing. Last spring, the search for a permanent Lighthouse location stirred up a backlash when it became known that the Salvation Army was con sidering an Eighth Line site. This precipitated the creation of a special task force that is still deliber ating the matter and will present its draft report Thursday night. From where Martin sits, this controversy is an over-reaction that she believes has more do with myths and fear over diminished property values than facts. "I think homelessness is not just a problem of the individual, but is a reflection of society's larg er issues," said Martin, who maintains that blame can also be leveled at the lack of affordable hous ing and jobs, mental health issues and more. Stereotypes don't help either, she added, saying that not all those in her former situation are dirty, lazy and without education. "The Lighthouse provides hope for homeless people, gives them a place to go while getting on their feet and provides resources not known to them," said Martin, who defies anyone to have picked her out of a crowd as homeless. "This is only-short-term, not a lifestyle." W here would M artin like to be in five years? "I'd like to be giving back to the com m uni ty I came from. I'd like to have my college diplom a, go to university and get a degree and have my own house," she said. "M ost o f all, I'd like to be the m other o f a w ell-adjusted six year old." Philthy McNasty's presents C o u n t r y N ig h t C o b b le S lO N E m b e rS " Masonry & Fireplace Design Specialists" DESIGN & INSTALLATION OF GAS. ELECTRIC AND CONVENTIONAL FIREPLACES: · stone & brick facings m a j e s t ic VERM ONT ·wood surrounds · cast stone Lighthouse public tours on Oct. 29 The public has one more chance to tour the Salvation A rm y's temporary Lighthouse shelter. Several public tours have already been held at the shelter with the final chance on Tuesday, Oct. 29. Tours will be held at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The facility, now in full operation at the for m er C ham ber o f C om m erce building on Country Squire Lane, was reconfigured into a shelter for 10 to 12 people thanks to numerous volunteers. 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