Please Help My Friend, Shanon, Achieve Her College Dream

Hi there!

My name is Joy, and I am asking for help on behalf of my friend, Shanon.

Shanon and I have been friends for nearly 25 years (since Grade 3). When we were kids, I watched her go through many things, but most notable was her mother's Multiple Sclerosis (MS) diagnosis. By 11 or 12 years old, Shanon was quickly becoming one of the primary caregivers for her mom, having to handle situations that most kids wouldn't dream of. (I once saw her fashion a catheter bag repair out of a pop bottle while we were in a Subway).

In elementary and high school, Shanon suffered though bullying and other cruel behaviour from classmates at school, then went home to give care to her mom as the MS worsened. By Grade 10, the strain became too much and Shanon left high school to get a full-time job. Around that same time, she and her mother left her father, which meant Shanon was now a financial, emotional and physical supporter in her household. Needless to say, Shanon grew up fast.

When her mother eventually entered long-term care, Shanon was officially on her own. While I was going to parties and working part-time at Tim Hortons for gas money, Shanon was putting together her monthly budgets, working two jobs and making sure to visit her mom multiple times a week, all without a driver's license.

As the years went on, she and I continued to have very different life paths. I watched from afar as she got a job at a call centre, working her way up in an environment that often treated her as just a number, but being exceptional at it every day. It was clear to me that Shanon was a brilliant employee, an asset to a company that could barely see her in the crowd, but also that it would eventually burn her out.

When that day came, she called me crying. She'd been working there for a decade, was doing the job of two or three employees, and was getting harrassment from below and above. She was at the end of her rope and we both knew it. So I asked her how much she would need to be able to take a break from her role and focus on herself. She gave me a small number (because she's a great budgeter) and I gave it to her.

With that little financial boost, Shanon took a leave of absence. From there, she connected with her doctor about blood pressure medication, then got a dietician to help with her blood sugar levels and, finally, enrolled in Ontario's Continuing Education program.

A few weeks ago, Shanon completed all of her required credits for her high school diploma. At 33, she got to wear a cap and gown and be a high school graduate. Not one to not plan ahead, Shanon had already enrolled in (and been accepted into!) the 8-month Medical Office Assistant program at Oxford College, and was looking into scholarships and government funding.

This brings me to last week, when Shanon filled me in on her newest hurdle: Her job of (now) 12 years, has been steadily reducing her hours each week. What was supposed to be full-time is now less than part-time, and she has been applying for other part-time jobs to make rent.

Because life's issues usually come in multiples, she has also discovered that the maximum OSAP loan she is eligible to recieve won't cover her cost of living for the 8 months of schooling. Unless she is able to find another part-time job that is flexible enough for her to do her studies, she has calculated that she will be about $4000 short across the 8 months.

So that brought me here. I am asking you all for a bit of help for my friend who is more like a sister to me. Shanon can do so much with so little, but does not like to ask for help. So I'm doing it for her.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

Joy