Your instructor will assign you one of the clients on this page. Be sure to use the one you were assigned.
01. University Student
Profile
Jennifer’s father abandoned her and her mother when Jennifer was just a baby. Tragically, her mother died of cancer a few years later. Jennifer went to live with a foster family. She had a very loving home, but money was not plentiful. Jennifer always dreamed of being a nurse and is now in university. She is working part-time and has a good GPA, but tuition and books are very expensive. Sometimes she does not have enough money to buy food.
02. Senior Citizen
Profile
Elizabeth had been happily married for over 45 years when her husband Richard suddenly died of a heart attack. To make matters worse, they had been travelling in the United States at the time and did not have enough medical insurance to cover the expensive hospital care. Elizabeth had to use most of their retirement savings to pay the bills. She is now trying to live on a modest pension, but sometimes she does not have enough money to pay for food.
03. Unemployed Construction Worker
Profile
Stan is an excellent carpenter and a hard worker. He knows he has to save money during the summer so he can cover his expenses in the winter months when construction jobs are halted because of cold and snow. Things were going well and Stan had even started to save money for a house. However, the last couple of summers have been very difficult. The economy shifted, jobs are scarce, and now Stan is finding it very difficult to pay all his bills.
04. Refugee Family
Profile
Puri is a physics professor and his wife is a dentist. They faced terrible hardships when civil war broke out in their country. In fact, two of their children were killed in the conflict. Puri and his wife applied for refugee status in Canada. Luckily, they were accepted. They are very grateful, but now they must learn English before they can get any kind of employment. It is not easy but they are doing their best. Sometimes they get food from the food bank.
05. Single Mother
Profile
If she could do everything over again, things would be different. Laurie struggled in school and lost interest in classes. Soon she was spending time with a guy who was 8 years older, convinced they would spend the rest of their lives together. She dropped out of school and moved with him to Kamloops. He left soon after they discovered she was pregnant, and she hasn’t seen him since. She’s a single mother who sometimes needs help from the food bank.
06. Victims of a House Fire
Profile
It seems forest fires are more common, and it seems they have been threatening local towns and cities more than ever. Hundreds of people are evacuated in the Kamloops region each summer. In many cases, people can return to their homes. But others aren’t so lucky. People don’t always have emergency funds and insurance claims can take months. Sometimes families who have lost their homes need to rely on the food bank.
07. Couple with Financial Problems
Profile
Jason and Tanya had big dreams, and were thrilled when several banks offered them credit cards as soon as they graduated from university. Shopping was one of their favourite pastimes and they were enjoying life—until they realized they couldn’t meet their minimum payments. Then the company Jason was working for went bankrupt. Meeting monthly expenses and repaying debt is not easy on Tanya’s income. They need to use the food bank.
08. Man Struggling with Addiction
Profile
Tom, a 26-year-old website designer, has had a substance abuse problem for most of his adult life. He was able to get contract work fairly consistently, but this became more challenging as his dependence on drugs increased. When he lost the apartment he’d been renting, he finally decided to sign up for a drug treatment program. Thankfully, he has been sober for 16 weeks! He’s not working yet and needs assistance from the food bank.