Calgary mom struggling to find home finds new beginning

A Calgary mom struggled to find a rental in the city for months, but there is a happy beginning for her family as they have found a place they can call home.

When CityNews first reported this story, Zena Ukisu said her biggest struggle in getting a home was being a single mom of two kids and having two cats.

However, she says she received an outpouring of support and assistance from a housing company after publication.

“Very relieved. It feels like it’s been years even though it’s just been 11 days since we were homeless,” said Ukisu.

“The Octavia Group reached out to us, and we were able to get this beautiful home that we have now.”

After the rental lease expired, Ukisu and her kids had to leave their last house at the beginning of March.

They tried to find another rental for months but got no success. Ukisu had to move into a shelter, Brenda’s House, in the city’s southwest.

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She says she will be eternally grateful to Brenda’s House because they took them in when they were on the verge of homelessness. At the same time, she is sad that her young kids had to go through all this.

“It was really hard. Elliot, my four-year-old son, would cry the whole time we were at the shelter, saying he wants to go home,” said Ukisu.

Ukisu’s older son Oliver Dudgeon says he is relieved to have his own room.

“Being in the shelter all that time, sharing the bed and everything all in one room. You never know what’s happening, and then now having my own bed, a place to lie down … not be tense and stressed out, its really refreshing,” Dudgeon said.

Zena Ukisu, left, inspects her son Elliot’s mask inside their home in Calgary on Sunday, March 12, 2023. (Henna Saeed, CityNews photo)

Read More: Calgary mom struggling to find rental as a single parent with pets

When Ukisu and her sons stayed at the shelter, they gave away the cats to a cousin for safekeeping. She says her cats are looking forward to being back home.

“We are going to pick them up very soon, and we can’t wait to see them,” Ukisu said.

“We are all ready for them, we are going to have their favourite beds out, and we can’t just wait to have our babies back and be all together again.”

Ukisu says she and her family of two boys and two cats are ready for a fresh start and will cherish every day that follows.

“Thank you to everyone who offered advice and wished us well. It meant a lot, thanks everybody,” Ukisu said.