Cinita and her mother Cynthia first connected with Agate when they became guests at our couples
shelter at First Covenant Church, after spending some time at Salvation Army Harbor Light.
Cynthia quickly connected with our shelter manager over their shared love of horror movies. She
enjoyed the conversations about favorite films and upcoming releases. This connection helped put her
at ease and feel safe, but, Cynthia emphasizes, it was still an emergency shelter. No matter the care or
respect or daily events and activities, it was still a hard and stressful situation.

“I don’t think people fully grasp the reality that when you go to sleep at night, and you wake and look around and you’re lying next to a stranger in a strange place, and you stop and think is this real or am I dreaming. And even if you leave today or tomorrow, it’s always going to be there. The scars are always going to be there and the fear; the fear of knowing how easy it is to end up in that situation again is everlasting.”
“I actually thought it could never happen to us. And then it did,” Cinita told us.
Cinita recalled a news story about the realities of becoming unhoused: the fact that so many of our neighbors are one lost paycheck or unexpected expense away from losing their housing.
And then it happened to them, and it took nearly a year of living in shelters and working toward stable
housing for them to find a place to call home again.
Like Cinita and Cynthia have shown us, we have the tools we need to help the people we serve
access emergency shelter and move on to permanent housing. Your support has helped us to
provide the safety and support the people we serve are looking for every day.

From being unhoused, to spending months in our shelter while working to get back on their feet,
Cynthia and Cinita are now stably housed in their own apartment. They are an excellent example of
what the purpose of our programs are: To meet people where they are, offer them the resources they
need, and support them as they attain housing, achieve recovery, or find a new job.
Your generous support is what makes these successes possible. Your gift will help more people like
Cynthia and Cinita exit homelessness and become stably housed.
In addition to operating our shelters, improving our Rapid ReHousing and treatment programs, and
rebuilding our Food Centre, your support can help people spend less time in shelter or even avoid
homelessness altogether.
Cynthia and Cinita have been in their apartment for a while now with the help of our Supportive
Housing programs. And while it’s evident that they are recovering, healing, finding new hope and
purpose, the scars of being unhoused remain.
We know we don’t often share the effects of homelessness on the people we serve. But it is
important to know the impact of homelessness doesn’t always end with housing. We are proud to
have been a part of Cynthia and Cinita’s journey of resilience and hope and will continue to advocate
for ending homelessness and hunger in our community.