Youth Transitioning to Adulthood: Wahnita's Story

Wahnita is a creative and bright twenty-year-old who recently graduated from our Youth Transitioning to Adulthood (YTA) program. Going into YTA, Wahnita had been through a lot in her life and already had a strong sense of independence. When she looks back at what made the program memorable, she credits her YTA worker for helping her become who she is today.

Growing up, Wahnita remembers wearing clothes that were always too small and not having a lot to eat at home. Her mother struggled with complex mental health issues, making it difficult for her to take care of Wahnita. This all amounted to Wahnita being placed in foster care at the age of eight.

When Wahnita was seventeen, her case worker connected her with YTA. Wahnita found that she already knew a lot of the material they were teaching, thanks to the supportive foster parents who raised her. Despite Wahnita’s personal resourcefulness and resilience, she says her YTA worker Justin made “a huge difference” by being there to support her in her journey.

“Having Justin there, he made me a little bit more humble and really helped me with some tough times I was going through.”

Building trust and support with Justin

Wahnita was initally hesitant about working with Justin, but as she got to know him, she felt comfortable opening up to him.

Wahnita and her foster parents Brenda and Stacey.

“It’s usually really hard for me to trust people, but Justin never showed me not to trust him,” Wahnita says. “I used to have 15 social workers that would leave all the time, and I was worried that he would too. But, he never left.”

Justin continued to be there for Wahnita during the ups and downs of her first year in post-secondary. On top of being stressesd about finances, Wahnita found it hard to find friends at school and wasn’t sure what she should study. Justin helped to ease her worries by talking things through with her every week and offering advice when needed. Wahnita says Justin was always supportive of her going to school and helped her to do her best through the hard times.

Due to her earlier childhood, Wahnita still dealt with depression and anxiety. There were days when she had little motivation, but Justin was there to help.

“I would go through depression stages where I just didn’t want to do anything, and he’d always get me up and going.”

Each month, Justin and Wahnita would work on a few small goals. For her bigger goals like buying a car, Justin played a supporting role calling dealerships so Wahnita could look at the different cars she wanted.

“He always helped me with my own journey, not just because he was in YTA,” Wahnita says.

Justin also encouraged Wahnita to keep up with her passions like photography and to use what she had to help others. Whenever they got together with the youth at YTA, Justin had Wahnita talk about her skills and interests to inspire others to pursue their own passions.

“It helped other youth to know that they could be just like me even if they had issues,” Wahnita says.

Since graduating from YTA, Wahnita has been focused on her part-time job (which she drives to in her new car) and is on her way to completing a degree in hospitality tourism. She still carries the same determination when she came to YTA. The biggest difference, though, is that her journey now includes more people who accepted and supported her along the way.

“I loved the people at YTA, how they helped me and knew that I didn’t have to be babied,” Wahnita says. “I loved spending time with them, knowing that they’re always there for me.”

To see more impact stories and videos from this year, check out our Report to Community.