Help Claudaé Finish Fight Her Legal Battle

Hi, my name is Claudaé. I’m a 22-year-old refugee living in Ontario, Canada. I came here three years ago with nothing but my passport and the clothes on my back, hoping to build a better life for myself.

The journey since then has been anything but easy. My first two years in Canada were filled with hardship and instability, and in June 2023, I found myself relocating to Owen Sound. I thought it would be a fresh start, but instead, it became one of the most difficult chapters of my life.

Living in Owen Sound, I was met with relentless racism and prejudice that left me feeling isolated and emotionally exhausted. I moved from job to job and home to home, just trying to survive. Eventually, I began counseling with a holistic healer, where I met a woman who seemed kind at first. She offered me a place to live, saying she needed a roommate and help with bills. I was transitioning out of a toxic living environment, so I saw this as an opportunity to find some peace.

Unfortunately, that peace was short-lived.

After moving in, she became controlling and hostile. Constantly criticizing what I ate, how I lived, and making me feel like I owed her something, despite paying my share of the rent and utilities. One day, I overheard her talking about me to her friends, and when I confronted her, she blocked me on social media and threw my toiletries across the bathroom floor. When I texted her about it, she responded by calling me a highly offensive racial slur the N-word with the hard ER.

At that time, I had nowhere else to go, but that was my breaking point and I was getting ready to leave by April 1st.

On March 31st, everything changed.

She returned to the home with someone else, barged into my room, and began throwing my belongings off the dresser. I calmly asked her to stop, but she became enraged. In the heat of the moment, she stabbed me in the face with car keys, injuring my left eye. I now need to wear glasses due to the damage.

When I tried to defend myself, the police were called but instead of protecting me, they arrested me.

This flipped my entire life upside down. I have no family here. No friends I could turn to. And yet, I didn’t give up.

I found great lawyers who truly believe in my innocence and have been working hard on my case. We are so close to getting it dismissed. But I’ve been paying out of pocket for this help, and just when I needed stability the most, my job ghosted me. A week later, my work permit expired. I can’t legally start a new job until it renews in mid April.

With no income and no place to go, I’ve been forced to stay in a homeless shelter. Still, I’ve kept showing up for myself doing everything I can to keep fighting.

Now, I’m at a critical point:

My lawyers need $2,500 within the next 10 business days.

If I don’t come up with the funds, they will have to drop my case, and everything we’ve worked for the progress, the hope, will be gone. I’ll have to start all over again, and the consequences could be devastating. It could ruin my chances of getting permanent residence, which I need to secure housing and rebuild my life.

I’m asking for your help.

If you’ve ever felt scared, unseen, or like everything was slipping away despite your best efforts, please know that I feel that right now. And your support, in any amount, could truly change the direction of my life.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading, for caring, and for helping me hold on to the hope that brought me to this country in the first place. May God bless you.

With love and gratitude,

Claudaé