Rebuilding confidence, security and stability for her family Francisca arrived in Canada from her native Guatemala as a refugee, fleeing domestic violence from a previous marriage and gripped in a intense feeling of hopelessness. Along side her new husband and large family (four children with another on the way), Francisca landed in Toronto at the recommendation of her cousin, desperately hoping to forget the past and forge a new life. The Peel Family Shelter found a new apartment for Francisca’s family and she came to Furniture Bank with the hope of making it into a home. Francisca was taken aback by the ability to make decisions on home furnishings for the apartment: living and dining room furniture, a television, beds for the whole family. Almost immediately, Francisca’s outlook was brightened by the generosity of Furniture Bank and the mere fact that total strangers in a new land were eager to provide for her and her family in a time of need. The comfort that the furniture offered her family endowed Francisca with the far greater reward of relief, faith and the hope of a safe, secure future for her family in their adopted home of Toronto.
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