Participant Testimonials

I would like to start off by saying that I love living at Quixote House.  It is a cool and a really nice place to live. There are so many nice people here, it’s a good environment, and the guys I live with like to joke around with me.  We get along well, and I have a good sense of humour. ​I was a regular kid, growing up in Winnipeg my whole life.  I lived with my mom and my stepdad, and I would spend time hanging out with friends  Read more ...

When I think about my childhood it is tough to think about as there was some good times but lots of difficult times.  I grew up in Shamattawa and then about age 10 my younger brother and I were sent to several different foster homes and group homes on quite a few different reserves and different cities and towns.  We were 6 kids and there was a lot of drinking in our family growing up and I remember a family house fire that was very upsetting. ​ Read more ...

I had an average childhood. There was drinking involved and I can’t say that I was neglected but there were a lot of people in the house. Dad got abusive to my mom and she moved back to her reserve. Us kids were distributed to foster homes. First I was put with a woman who couldn’t have children. I sure got a beating a lot from her. But I did learn to chop wood and shovel. I did whatever it took though I eventually got into trouble. It was 70% bad and 30% good, and always hectic. Read more ...

I grew up in the Calgary area.  I was a small kid so I used to get bullied a lot. Because I was told only to stand up for others and not myself, I walked or ran away. In retrospect, it was the wrong thing to do.  I was horribly awkward at 14 years old but sprouted up and things normalized. From high school, I went straight into the military. Both grandparents served in World War II, so since I was three years old, I’ve always wanted to be a soldier.  It was a natural fit but a half good - half bad experience. Read more ...​

I grew up in a lower middle class family in racist Northern Manitoba town.  My dad is Metis and my mom is white.  Life was hard with the alienation and violence so I grew up as a loner. In elementary school, it wasn’t so bad yet because kids weren’t as judgemental at that point. In high school thought, that changed. It started okay.  During freshie week, I got in with the cool people.  They were over one day, sitting and chatting on the lawn when my dad came home.   Read more ...

I was born on a dairy farm in Manitoba. Many good friends were in my life, and I rode horses. I quit school at 15 years old because the principal said I was better off if I did. Admittedly, I was a shit disturber anyways. So, I worked on my dad’s farm until I was 23 years old. It was then that I lost Darryl and Kelly, Jeff and Lori, and Ivan who died all within months of each other. We were all in the same grade together, so I was grieving like crazy. Read more ...

I am excited to be doing this interview to share with you how Future Hope and Next Step have impacted my life. I grew up in rural Manitoba on a farm a few hours from Winnipeg. My memories of being a kid involve lots of outdoor fun, hard work, lots of involvement in growing crops and helping with the animals. I enjoyed hard work but always saw it as just what we did as a family. Our family worked together, went school and clothes shopping and we bought new things to improve our farm. No family is perfect; I argued  Read more ...

 Hi my name is Pizza Boy and I am happy to share with you a bit about my life, the ups and downs and how Next Step and Quixote House have been such a wonderful addition to my life. I came to Canada when I was only a year old, and my parents worked very hard to create a wonderful life and upbringing for myself and my brother. Read more ...