You step outside into an unusually cold Manitoba winter, and you’re met with the customary bone-chilling breeze. The shiver that runs through you is followed by one of the ensembles of complaints about the weather, and the longing for warm summer sun and green grass fill your mind.
You might not enjoy the long, cold winters, but the thick winter jacket on your back makes them bearable, at least for a short amount of time, until that windchill hits and tears freeze in your eyes before they can form.
The winter jacket, an essential to survive the quickest of trips to the car to grab a forgotten phone or a bag of groceries, is something many of us take for granted when the snow begins to fall.
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Not Alex though. Alex doesn’t take his new winter jacket for granted. Not when being jacket-less kept him confined in his house with his mom in the hospital and two younger siblings to look after.
Thankfully, other supports provided winter clothing and food for his two younger siblings, but being over 18 years old, Alex wasn’t given the same support. Instead, he was unable to attend school or any of the other community programs he was a part of.
Alex’s family has been involved with New Directions for quite a while, both of his siblings being a part of our FASD Support, Education and Counselling Program. When a program Clinician heard that Alex was confined to the house, they submitted a request to our Endowment Fund to purchase him a new winter jacket and proper footwear.
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The request was approved, and Alex is now the enormously proud owner of a new winter jacket and a pair of runners to keep himself warm as he navigates Winnipeg Transit on his way to school and community activities every day.
The Clinician that submitted the request says that Alex is beyond thankful for the support, which has only been possible thanks to donations to our Endowment Fund.
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