Kristy’s Story

Kristy is a strong, resilient young woman who decided to put herself first and seek happiness and safety for herself. She has a laugh that is contagious, a smile that can light up a room, and a heart that cares for all of those around her. She has taken youth under her wing to help aide in their recovery on top of her own, and is continuously searching for ways to seek support, safety and health.

Kristy’s Story of healing and recovery;

Kristy chose to access Grimmon house at the age of 17 after a life of trauma, heartbreak and unhealthy coping skills that were built to protect herself. She began using methamphetamines at a young age, and had been involved in very scary and dangerous situations with her peers. She had not attended secondary school and was involved in sexual exploitation using her body and illegal drugs as a way to make money to survive.

When she contacted Grimmon House in March 2017 she stated that she was seeking safety, security and health. Prior to intake, Kristy stated that her goal in life was that she “wants to help others avoid the mistakes I have made in my life. If I can protect one girl from experiencing and seeing what I have, I will be happy.” From day 1 at Grimmon House Kristy was committed to her recover, engaged, hopeful for her future and ready for change.

Throughout her time at Grimmon House Kristy abstained from drugs and alcohol and consistently demonstrated a desire to build healthy coping skills. She discovered a love of physical activity such as dancing and weight lifting to help her through difficult times. Prior to her time at Grimmon House, the longest she had abstained from illegal drugs was 30 days. During her time with BGCC, she followed through with all of her legal commitments. She also felt safe enough to reach out to RCMP to report a man who hurt her when she was only 13 years old, which was something she had never spoken about previously. With the support of the program therapist, an RCMP therapy dog and her own courage, she was able to make this disclosure with the hopes of him not hurting any more young women.

Kristy reconnected with her family and worked on developing healthy communication skills with her mother and her sister. Prior to coming to Grimmon House, Kristy was not deemed as safe enough to spend time with her young niece and nephew. During her time at Grimmon House she was able to fulfill her hope of being a positive role model for her young niece and nephew and continued to be able to spend quality time with them on a weekly basis and building a strong and healthy connection.

While at Grimmon House, Kristy achieved her very first high school credits at age 17. Facing obstacles of a diagnosed learning disability, low self- confidence and peer conflict, Kristy had not ever enrolled in high school. After reaching this goal of obtaining high school credit, Kristy expressed that she felt “so smart” and that she felt as though she “could do anything she put her mind to”. She sought support from the program teacher, Grimmon House staff and the other students during challenging subjects and was able to persevere through difficult hurdles in school work.

Kristy was successful in receiving the Child and Youth Spirit Award for her ongoing commitment to herself, her commitment to her recovery, for being a positive role model for others and for her contributions to her community.

Upon graduation from Grimmon House, Kristy was asked about what she feels is important for people to know about where she is at in her journey of recovery in this moment, she stated that she wants the world to know that she has “never been so happy in her life.”

Female Youth, 17 years old

Grimmon House