More than 10 years ago Brian Koo had a stroke which paralysed his left side, leaving him bedridden and unable to speak.
After almost a year in the hospital, Brian came home and fell into a deep depression, spending his days sitting in front of the TV.
“I couldn’t even bring myself to get dressed,” he recalls.
Four years ago, James Kulatkowski was living on the streets and was forced to eat from garbage bins.
When 46 year old Carlos and his two sons were targeted by Columbian guerillias, he escaped to Canada looking for safety and a new beginning.
When a tumour on four year old Maggie's optical nerve robbed her of her vision, her parents reached out to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), a United Way funded agency that supports those who are visually impaired.
When Surjit’s husband died suddenly, she lost her zest for life and didn’t leave the house for more than four months.
Less than six months after the birth of his daughter Hailey, Steve was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, an illness that causes dramatic shifts in mood, energy, thinking and behaviour from mania to depression and back again.
When she was eight months pregnant, Donna Woods was beaten and strangled unconscious by her boyfriend. She lay on the floor clinically dead, without oxygen for more than four minutes. Miraculously the kicks of her unborn son revived her as paramedics arrived on the scene.
Dadrien Brown immigrated to Canada in 2009. He felt like an outsider, he was homesick for his birth country and he was unsure of what he wanted to do with his life. An acquaintance referred him to African Community Services (ACS), a United Way funded agency. ACS’s Youth Development Program and the Mentorship program helped Dadrien connect with the community while building his confidence and leadership skills.
For Jennifer Deathe and her husband Richard, the birth of their first child was a time filled with fear and emotional pain. Their son James was born with severe physical malformations to his legs, requiring the amputation of his left leg and extensive reconstructive surgery. Both parents felt devastated and helpless.
When he was employed as a chef, Tong Mai worked many long hours. But after retiring 10 years ago, he found himself sitting in front of the television all day. His wife, Irene, kept busy doing housework.
Jennifer Kilchenmann, 27, has always enjoyed an active lifestyle, despite having just 6 per cent vision in her left eye and 60 per cent vision in her right. She works out at the gym, enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, and socializes with friends and family. However, when looking for work, she often felt stigmatized by potential employers who couldn’t see beyond her visual impairment.
Ten-year-old Aaliyah Parks has Autism Spectrum Disorder, a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain. It is also a developmental disability where individuals have difficulties communicating and relating to others. Aaliyah must work hard to learn social skills that come naturally to most of her peers.
Joining the growing number of people unemployed due to the recession was difficult for Ron Carnwell, 56. So much of his 
After researching Canada, Sandra Bocarro felt it would be an ideal place to immigrate and raise a family. She arrived in 2004. But despite being a highly educated professional, she had difficulty finding employment. She had always lived comfortably in her homeland but now she was struggling to make ends meet and keep food on the table.
Theresa Gyampah was being verbally, emotionally and physically abused by her husband who threatened to have her deported if she ever left him. As a newcomer to Canada, she didn’t know where to turn or who to trust. After enduring years of abuse, fearing for her life and worried about how her children were being affected, Theresa called a helpline and was referred to a local shelter.
Robin Persaud had lost his job, separated from his wife and children, and become homeless. Diagnosed with depression and a mood disorder, he had attempted suicide twice but couldn’t afford the medication he needed to get well.
At age 9 Troy Taylor felt a void in his life. His parents had separated when he was 4 and he had gone several years without a consistent male role model. As a result, he started to put less effort into his schooling and didn’t have much faith or trust in commitments by male authority figures.
“It’s amazing how something that happened to me that was so horrible actually turned out for the best,” says 33-year-old Antoinette Antoine, reflecting on her past.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I’d ever have to use a food bank,” says Dawson Reid, 55. But when the plant where he worked stopped production, Dawson lost his job.
A day after he was born in January 2002, Joshua Roul was diagnosed with nerve damage to his left shoulder as the result of a difficult delivery. As serious as this situation was, it paled in comparison to what happened next.
In 2006, 39-year-old Benneta Solomon, her 41-year-old husband Boby and their two children aged 3 and 12, immigrated to Canada looking for an improved quality of life and more opportunities.
In 2003, 78-year-old Che Kin Cheng and his wife Siuyan, 72, had been married for more than 50 years. They had worked hard all their lives, raised three children, and were enjoying travelling during their retirement. However, their journey together would be cut short, when Siuyan was diagnosed with cancer.
In April 2002, 6-year-old Nolan Cattell's father died of a brain tumour. With no siblings or relatives living locally, Nolan and his mother, JoAnn, were on their own.
Paul Williams has been participating in the Boys and Girls Club of Peel program in his McHardy Court neighbourhood since he was 14. Now at 19, he is a member of his neighbourhood Youth Council.
When he was 22, Robert Ditchburn lost touch with reality. He was consumed with thoughts that his coworkers were talking about him behind his back and that his employer was trying to harm him.
Thirty-one-year-old Vanessa Ramnarine, her husband Tony, and their two daughters Eva, 6, and Amy, 4, have always been a tight-knit family with strong family values. When a flyer from her daughter’s school asked for participants for its eight-week Family and Schools Together (F&ST) program, Vanessa was all for it. That’s because it offered the chance for parents, children, social service professionals, community volunteers and school staff to meet at school for dinner and quality family time.
