Celebrating Everyday Women,

Shannon Roche

Because of the amazing  support for the programs we have in our   community, I have been  able to persevere in life's  challenges. Always know     that your support of  these  programs are what has enabled many women   like myself to  rise  above, find strength and determination and to succeed. 

                                        Because of you “we can”

  I have come close to giving up twice in my life, the last time  I almost did.  

  I, like so many others, became pregnant at 18 and found that “love” at 18,   really only goes so far, and I was alone.  It is amazing what we are willing   to endure, until we have someone to protect. Being dangerously underweight, I   was diagnosed a high risk pregnancy, with frequent warnings of having a special needs child, along with several recommendations to terminate my pregnancy ,I did not waiver.  I had a beautiful baby girl in August 2001. I thought I missed a bullet. 

Alone, and with only my will to succeed, I began my search for help, and after 6 months of dragging a baby to appointments and interviews for education grants to no avail; I gave up. I finally found my way to BGS and applied for a grant. I was approved shortly  after, and attended technical college and became an aesthetician.

I am forever grateful to BGS for showing me that “I can”

As an aesthetician, I was honored to meet some of the strongest ,most impactful women in my life that to this day I remain overwhelming grateful to. 

Over the years, I was pushed harder then I ever thought I could possibly take. From nights of snuggling in bed with my daughter in our winter attire because I could barely pay the heating bill; teddy bear Christmas trees and carpet picnics , as well as the ever memorable “fridge fairy” called mom that would turn up and load our cupboards with food. Working multiple jobs , sometimes  18 hours a day, I was determined.

I promised myself by 25 I would own my very own home. Living pay check to pay check in subsidized housing, I spent the next 6 years showing the world that doubted me what I could do.  Two weeks before my 26th birthday,  I finalized the purchase of my first home. 

I pushed myself to the breaking point and in the spring of 2009, after losing my job in a downturn for two months, my body started to give in on me. I was strongly warned by my doctor  to stop the stress I was inflicting to myself before the damage was irreparable.  But I had promised myself and my daughter a brighter future, and so I refused to give up. 

Shortly after I was given an amazing job opportunity which helped my career development and aspirations for years to come. 

I met my husband and was married in the Fall of 2011. Life started to look brighter, and I started to believe I was going to make it.  I was no longer taking on the world alone. We welcomed our son in June 2012.

Through dedication to each other, and our family, we continue to make an amazing team.

In the spring of 2018, I finally gave up. I had nothing left. 

After years of struggling to the point of unbearable with our daughter, having her hearing corrected after spending 9 years with 33% hearing loss, constant illness  and what I believed was a “flare for the dramatics” at 16 years old she left home. For the first time in my life, my mother was not there to remind me that “we do not cry in this family” because apparently we do. 

I spent months as a ghost, barely holding onto my own sanity, in silence. I walked away from my career and watched my family  fall  apart with me. After being hospitalized twice for having a heart rate of 198 bpm, my doctor sternly told me I was lucky I wasn’t dead. I wasn’t dead, but I was barely hanging on. 

This time it was my husband who reminded me, that I couldn’t give up. That , that was not who  he married. 

I found my fight again and spent the next 18 months in my own personal hell, looking for help and trying to navigate our mental health system. My family going through hell with me. That bullet I thought I missed so many years ago, finally hit home. The one prophecy in my life I had so desperately wanted to prove wrong, was not in my power to change. 

My daughter came half a breath away from being one of the women WIN House supports, or worse. It was 14 months before she returned home. 

There are those who are not so lucky.

Through strength, perseverance and determination she is home and on her way to a brighter tomorrow. I am eternally grateful to our community support systems for their help and kind hearts. I could not have overcame the challenges I have been faced, and continue to face without them. 

Because of you “I could” , because of you my daughter “can”  and now after 18 years it is my turn to do my part and show my support in the spirit of “I can” by  Celebrating the Every Day Women who have, and are,  doing all they can. 

Sincerely,

Shannon Roche