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"When I met Elaine, my children were controlling our home and I wasn't coping at all. But because of Home with a Heart, my children and I are enjoying each other again and our home is in order and routine. My children help out now and we therefore have more time together. I am also organized with meals, housework, parenting. Home with a Heart helped me to identify a need for further computer training. Having graduated from the training, I volunteered with Home with a Heart for two months. That experience built my self-confidence and I am now employed with a great National company.
I have so much less stress in my life and all my friends say how good this course has been for me. It gives me comfort to know I can handle my home and children and although everyday there is something new to cope with and it's not always easy, thanks to Home with a Heart, I know how to bring my home and children back into order." Sonia Bailey Single Mother of Four |
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One of the greatest challenges as a working single mom is balancing motherhood, homemaking and career. Home with a Heart has taught me how to more effectively manage these roles, resulting in a more meaningful and fulfilling life.
Karen Stowell Publications Editor Single Mother of One |
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Misplacing clothes, keys, paperwork and forgetting deadlines was a daily routine for me. I’d spend a whole weekend cleaning, only to be living in the same chaos a week later.
I felt overwhelmed, frustrated and impatient and took it out on my husband and children. I took Let's Get Organized and then bought the Home with a Heart Set to learn more. Home with a Heart changed my life. It taught me the skills to run my life rather than my life running me. Now I have peace in my home, business, relationships and within myself. |
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I immigrated from Zimbabwe. I didn't know anything about cleaning and hygiene. What I learned from Home with a Heart will last because its within. Now I can teach it to my daughter and she can pass it on when she has children.
Catherine Muyezwa Single Mother of One |
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I have been a single mother for 10 years. My three older children are on their own and one is in high school. After an episode with manic depression I went to the bottom and turned to the government for assistance. I was really depressed because I had no vision of where I was going or what I needed to be doing to figure it out.
During the Home with a Heart classes I got a clear vision for where I could start the whole process by turning to my home. By organizing my home, I felt I was organizing my life. I learned to set small attainable goals so I got a sense of reward. Since finishing the program, I know that I always have a basis to go back to if I feel overwhelmed. I was able to accept my disability and put a plan into place that fills my day with homemaking, part-time accounting, and volunteerism in a café while recovering with a small disability pension. Today, I run my own business and teach other women in my situation. Home with a Heart was the catalyst for all this change. Jacqueline Stokes Single Mother of Three |
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This program is so user friendly. It helps you to become the very best you can be.
Just learning something as simple as one of the hobbies made a huge difference in my mothering as I had something to work on while watching my toddler. Molly Ross Single Mother of One |
Prison Testimony
Saturday, May 13, 2006
How to be a mom
By Danette Dooley The Telegram, St. Johns, NL
Krista (not her real name) is counting down the days until she’ll be free to leave the Correctional Centre for Women in Clarenville. When that day comes this month, the single parent will head for home and her two children.
Thanks to a program recently offered at the facility, Krista feels she’s leaving the institution better equipped to make a life for herself and her two young children.
Krista has been in prison for property-related offences since January. While being away from her children has been hard, she feels that the skills she’s learned will help her be a better parent. They are skills, she admits, that she missed out on growing up.
Offered under the umbrella of the Salvation Army Newfoundland and Labrador East Division, Home with a Heart is a faith-based program developed by Elaine Bond, a single mother from Ontario who wanted to pass her knowledge on to other single parents and provide help for basic life skills.
“We learned budgeting, parenting, cooking, cleaning, how to do the laundry and there was a session on employment,” Krista said during a recent telephone interview from the correctional facility.
“You learned … how to discipline your children, you learned how to iron your clothes, which is something I wasn’t good at. And budgeting, I didn’t have a clue.”
The program is broken down into 12 components, covering everything from organizing a household, to looking after finances, from making easy yet nutritious meals, to learning practical skills for parenting babies to teens.
“We had a dietitian come in and show us what’s healthy. … We prepared a meal for a few people and we did some cleaning. We made a salad with chicken breast and we made lemon meringue tarts and butterscotch tarts. We had garlic bread, too,” Krista said.
Home With a Heart also helps women discover their inner potential and unrecognized skills that could lead to a home-based business. There’s also an opportunity to deal with any issues on healing from any lingering hurts which, when talked about, often help the women move forward in their lives.
Another plus of the program is that the women get to keep the teaching material and household cleaning supplies that they were given on completion of the course. Krista says she’ll be taking hers home with her when she’s released from custody.
“There’s a lot of stuff I didn’t know that, when I get out, will be helpful. And they gave us books that we get to take with us. So, I can go back and look if I ever forget anything.”
Captains Wavey Simms and Charlene Hillier of the Salvation Army put on the program at the correctional facility.
How to be a mom
By Danette Dooley The Telegram, St. Johns, NL
Krista (not her real name) is counting down the days until she’ll be free to leave the Correctional Centre for Women in Clarenville. When that day comes this month, the single parent will head for home and her two children.
Thanks to a program recently offered at the facility, Krista feels she’s leaving the institution better equipped to make a life for herself and her two young children.
Krista has been in prison for property-related offences since January. While being away from her children has been hard, she feels that the skills she’s learned will help her be a better parent. They are skills, she admits, that she missed out on growing up.
Offered under the umbrella of the Salvation Army Newfoundland and Labrador East Division, Home with a Heart is a faith-based program developed by Elaine Bond, a single mother from Ontario who wanted to pass her knowledge on to other single parents and provide help for basic life skills.
“We learned budgeting, parenting, cooking, cleaning, how to do the laundry and there was a session on employment,” Krista said during a recent telephone interview from the correctional facility.
“You learned … how to discipline your children, you learned how to iron your clothes, which is something I wasn’t good at. And budgeting, I didn’t have a clue.”
The program is broken down into 12 components, covering everything from organizing a household, to looking after finances, from making easy yet nutritious meals, to learning practical skills for parenting babies to teens.
“We had a dietitian come in and show us what’s healthy. … We prepared a meal for a few people and we did some cleaning. We made a salad with chicken breast and we made lemon meringue tarts and butterscotch tarts. We had garlic bread, too,” Krista said.
Home With a Heart also helps women discover their inner potential and unrecognized skills that could lead to a home-based business. There’s also an opportunity to deal with any issues on healing from any lingering hurts which, when talked about, often help the women move forward in their lives.
Another plus of the program is that the women get to keep the teaching material and household cleaning supplies that they were given on completion of the course. Krista says she’ll be taking hers home with her when she’s released from custody.
“There’s a lot of stuff I didn’t know that, when I get out, will be helpful. And they gave us books that we get to take with us. So, I can go back and look if I ever forget anything.”
Captains Wavey Simms and Charlene Hillier of the Salvation Army put on the program at the correctional facility.
Home with a Heart has changed my life in a way I wanted it to change. I am organized, with a better perspective on the future for me and my children, lots of hope and a better self esteem, less worry and knowing that everything will all come together in the end. It works; it really does. I can see myself complete and proud and successful. Twelve weeks of time well spent.
Cindy May Mann,
Single Mother of Four
Cindy May Mann,
Single Mother of Four
I was praying for years for help in my home when I met Elaine. The fruit of Home with a Heart increases every day and has brought peace to our home. Shortly after taking the program, my marriage was restored.
Anonymous
Single Mother of Four
Anonymous
Single Mother of Four
Elaine teaches a systematic, step-by step approach to managing your home, maximizing efficiency while minimizing stress. As I began to put the teachings into practice, I noticed the benefits almost immediately. Soon afterwards I had a job again that suited my skills and family.
Anonymous
Single Mother of Two
Anonymous
Single Mother of Two
I didn't think I would ever find anyone with enough compassion to help me out of my overwhelming state. I am so thankful for the help Home with a Heart gave me. Now I have a home again!
Nienka
Single Mother of One
Nienka
Single Mother of One
For years I was overwhelmed with homemaking and I didn't think there was any way out of the situation. I met Elaine and she taught me the skills to bring my house in order. The changes have brought a continuous sense of stability to our home.
Denise
Mother of Four
Denise
Mother of Four
Within just a few weeks of starting the program, I was so happy and enjoying my children again. My confidence was so low, I didn't feel I could do anything even though I am a college graduate.
Joanna
Single Mother of Two
Joanna
Single Mother of Two
Home with a Heart brought stability into my life when everything else was changing.
Valinda
Single Mother of Two
Valinda
Single Mother of Two
"I don’t need someone like Martha Stewart to teach me how to stencil my bathroom. I need someone to teach me how to get my child to stop climbing on my desk when I am on my computer and how to put him to bed at night.”
Anonyomous
Anonyomous