INSPIRING STORY

Shanika’s story: Scholarship recipient defied the odds

“It means someone is rooting for me.” CCAF bursaries help youth in extended care attend university, college or trade school

Shanika was seven years old, living in Jamaica and eager to be reunited with her mother in Canada, where her mom had been living for five years. Unfortunately, their reunion didn’t go smoothly, and life together was challenging. The Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (CCAS) became involved. By her 15th birthday, Shanika was brought into foster care.

CCAF funds fueled Shanika’s dreams and determination

Ever the optimist, Shanika knew that her attitude and hard work would help her beat the odds. (Only 46 percent of Ontario youth in care graduate high school, for example, and they are 50 percent less likely to enrol in post-secondary education than their peers.)

“I always knew I had to be successful, and I took coming into care as an opportunity to do just that,” she says.

Shanika’s strong high-school marks gained her acceptance into Toronto Metropolitan University’s Social Work program. Your donations to the Catholic Children’s Aid Foundation made it possible for her to attend and earn her degree.

Your donations fund life changing scholarships

Thanks to donors, the Catholic Children’s Aid Foundation (CCAF) awarded 79 bursaries in 2024/25 to help current and former youth in extended society care overcome financial barriers and access college, university or trade programs. Given the trauma that youth in care have experienced, their limited family resources, and their financial instability amidst rising education costs in Ontario, these scholarships are a game changer in helping youth create stability in their lives. Consider that workers with a university degree earned an average of 59 percent more per year in 2020 than those without.

You can have an enormous impact on young lives

The Foundation scholarship raised Shanika’s prospects and her spirits. “It meant a lot. It means that there are people rooting for me,” she says. “It meant that I was doing something right, and I was being recognized for succeeding.”

Shanika is forging a path to greatness. “I am on my way to success,” she says. “My goals do not end at finishing school. They transcend beyond that.”