In August 2003, 16-year-old Sheena Mallari and her newborn daughter Rosalyn were brought to Nellie’s after a friend called the Children’s Aid Society following an abusive situation between Sheena and her partner. A week and a half later, on the eve of Sheena’s 17th birthday, Children’s Aid returned and removed Rosalyn from Sheena’s care, declaring her an unfit mother. Rosalyn was less than a month old.

“The staff at Nellie’s were always there for me, no matter what happened. They always believed in me,” says Sheena. Over the next six months, Sheena enrolled in high school classes, worked part-time, and with the help of the Nellie’s team, managed to get her daughter back full-time. A year later, Sheena graduated high school.

“I didn’t want to be a statistic. I knew that I was a minority, a young mother, and I was living in a shelter,” explains Sheena. “I had to keep looking forward — cut the noise, focus on myself, and focus on my daughter.”

Now, almost 20 years later, Sheena still remembers so many details from her time at Nellie’s, especially from that very first night. She built a strong connection with one staff member in particular, Maureen Caines-Comrie, Nellie’s shelter program manager, and the two still share a close bond to this day.

“I didn’t even want her to leave me [in my room] the first night I was there, I just wanted her to stay with me,” says Sheena. “I owe her so much love and respect, because that’s what she gave me.”

During the year that she lived at the shelter, Nellie’s staff also helped Sheena navigate the court system not only to restore her daughter back to her care, but also to arrange anger management programs and couples counseling for her and her partner. With the support of Nellie’s, Sheena and her partner were able to reconcile, and are still together today. “Thanks to Nellie’s, I’m not the same person I was before. I’m not afraid to speak my mind to my partner anymore. I’m not scared,” says Sheena.

Today, the couple have three children: 19-year-old Rosalyn, 16-year-old Sherlyn, and 7-year-old Serafina. Rosalyn is studying criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University, while Sherlyn is in grade 11 with dreams of becoming a teacher. Serafina is in grade 2, and like most kids her age, she is obsessed with Roblox. In addition to raising her daughters, Sheena has had a successful career in accounts payable, and currently works for a global chemical distribution company.

“Nellie’s helps you build a proper foundation of where you want to be in life,” says Sheena. “They really helped me to be where I am right now. I’d always been dependent on other people, and they’d always put me down. And the only place that didn’t, was Nellie’s.”

When it comes to her history with her partner, Sheena is an open book with her older daughters. “I wanted them to know what we went through. I needed them to know,” she says. “Because I don’t want them to face what I did. I want them to have better. And I want them to know that there’s somewhere they can go in Toronto, if they ever need it.”