A pair of cleats and a used laptop may seem like insignificant things, but for Samidha these helped alter the course of her life dramatically.
At age 14, Samidha entered foster care. By the time she was 18, she had lived in seven different homes and attended three high schools in the Greater Toronto Area. She had little money for extracurriculars or other educational expenses. She was struggling and skipping class.
The help she received from Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth in the welfare system, enabled her to get field hockey cleats, a laptop and other educational supports that allowed her to fully participate, and later thrive, in high school and beyond.
Samidha, now 26, is a McMaster University graduate and plans to pursue teacher’s college.
“As a teenager, you're so vulnerable because all the barriers can accumulate. But all the supports also accumulate,” she said. “I remember in Grade 9, I was really struggling. I was skipping a lot of class and I'm sure that if I didn't get the proper support, I wouldn't be where I am now.”
She received support from the charity’s Stay in School Program, which receives funding through ScotiaRISE, Scotiabank’s $500-million commitment and social impact initiative aimed at promoting economic resilience among disadvantaged groups. The Stay in School program aims to increase high school graduation rates and post-secondary participation for young people from Canada’s child welfare system. It provides partner agencies with several types of support, including tutoring and mentoring and funds for things like technology, transportation or school activities. It also awards and recognizes students who are doing exceptionally well.
The program supports more than 100 young people each year in British Columbia and Alberta, and there has been an increased demand from agency partners in Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
Scotiabank’s support of Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada goes back to 1990.
Source: Children's Aid Foundation of Canada, Scotiabank
“With the Bank’s support we've been able to help thousands of youth through the Scotiabank Stay in School program. It has also helped youth go on to post-secondary education through scholarships,” said Rebecca Green, Director of Impact at Children's Aid Foundation of Canada.
This year, the Bank has renewed its partnership with the organization through ScotiaRISE by investing $900,000 over three years in the foundation’s Stay in School program.
“We are pleased to continue to partner with Children's Aid Foundation of Canada to provide young people with the support they need to overcome barriers to graduation,” said Meigan Terry, SVP and Chief Sustainability, Social Impact and Communications Officer at Scotiabank. “Through our ScotiaRISE social impact initiative, we are focused on supporting initiatives like the Stay in School program, reflecting our commitment to improving the lives of young people by empowering them to further their education."
This funding will help expand the program to 10 partners across the country in at least seven provinces, with a focus on Indigenous-led organizations.
"As a proud board member of Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada, I believe in the direct and lasting impact the foundation has on the lives of children and youth by connecting them with the support they need to overcome past trauma, achieve stability, and create meaningful lives, with education being a critical pillar to their success,” said Terri-Lee Weeks, Executive Vice President, Retail Customer, Scotiabank.
High school graduation rates for youth in Canada’s child welfare system continue to lag those of youth in the general population.
For example, in Ontario just 46% of children in care earn their high school diplomas compared to 83% among their peers, said Green.
“There is still quite a gap between youth in care and their peers and one of the reasons is that there's instability for many of these youth, like moving foster homes,” Green said. “There’s lot of instability in their education as well as the trauma of coming into care and the trauma that led them to come into care, which affects their education.”
Children’s Aid Foundation supports local agencies such as the Pacific Community Resources Society, the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Saskatoon.
“Every child’s needs are unique and every organization’s situation is unique as well,” Green said.
The foundation hopes to support 1,600 youth in Canada’s child welfare system through the Stay in School program over the next three years, she added.
“This population that we help often find themselves in challenging circumstances that are out of their control, and I find it really meaningful that we can help them to change their lives in a positive way,” said Green. “Maybe it’s a scholarship or it could be support for tutoring, but we're empowering them to improve their lives.”
For Samidha, the support helped her to overcome a difficult situation and set her on an adventurous career path.
Her mother died when she was just seven years old. When she was 12, Samidha and her family immigrated to Canada. The first two years in a new country were tough and the family experienced a lot of instability.
By the time Samidha was 14, the authorities stepped in and she became a permanent Crown ward, moving frequently between foster homes for periods as short as two weeks.
“It was getting pretty tough to make friends and stay consistent in school when you’re moving, and moving unexpectedly,” she said.
Life could have turned out so differently for me in high school. Supports like this that provide resources for kids from a young age are so, so impactful and make a big difference for the rest of their lives."
Samidha wanted to participate in sports and other activities, but she didn’t have the resources or extra money to buy cleats or pay for school trips.
“It's moments like that where you feel so singled out about your situation,” she said. “I don’t have parents who are going to drop me off at practice, or I don’t have the right shoes. I don’t have the support system.”
The foundation’s Stay in School program helped Samidha with money for equipment, technology and other expenses. She started playing field hockey and became co-captain. She also delved into reading and began excelling at school.
“I realized school would be my ticket out of that kind of life to create a life that's more stable for myself,” Samidha said.
After she graduated high school, she studied business at McMaster University, supported by scholarships from Children’s Aid Foundation all along the way. She was active on the business student council and volunteered as well. Samidha later shifted into philosophy after she “fell in love” with the subject.
Samidha graduated in 2021 with an Honours bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a minor in business. She also studied Arabic in Cairo, Egypt, through the McCall MacBain International Fellowship, which gives students the opportunity to live and study abroad for a year.
Now living in Quebec, she works as an English teaching assistant and is studying French. She plans to become a teacher, with the aim of helping marginalized communities get better access to quality education.
Looking back at her own educational journey, she is incredibly grateful for the support she received from the Stay in School program and for the impact it had.
“Life could have turned out so differently for me in high school. Supports like this that provide resources for kids from a young age are so, so impactful and make a big difference for the rest of their lives.”