A woman in Kamloops is grateful for a non-profit organization that has helped her twice.

(MIKE MCDONALD / iNFOnews.ca)

When a Kamloops resident found an old crumpled up piece of paper showing her scribbled out monthly payments, she was reminded of two times when a local non-profit agency came to her rescue.

Bobbi Tinline said she was fleeing a domestic abuse situation when she and her two kids in arrived in Kamloops from Calgary in 2014, with not much more than the clothes on the their backs and nowhere to stay.

She said she approached the ASK Wellness Society for help, a local non-profit agency dedicated to helping those in need.

“A housing worker there found us a place at the Hospitality Inn and we were able to get me, my kids and my dog in there to be safe,” she recalled. “They cared about my son, who has special needs, and made sure to find somewhere suitable for him. We were able to stay there until I got back on my feet.”

TInline said she received a second act of charity from the agency two years ago when she was short on money for rent. She was on disability and working part time.

“Without the $350 from the agency I would not have been able to get my monthly balance down to zero,” she said. “That money was the difference between being homeless or not for myself and my family. We would have been forced onto the street.”

An old piece of paper showing the charity given to Kamloops resident Bobbi Tinline to help her pay her rent in 2019.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Bobbi Tinline

Tinline said it wasn’t easy to get the funding and she had to be pushy to have her case looked at.

“Once they figured out I wasn’t trying to abuse the system they were very helpful,” she said. “I had to fight for it, you have to fight for everything. In the end, it was a resource that was there for me.”

Tinline said she has not had to use the agency’s services since but is grateful to have the agency in the community.

“Without them things would be so much worse for so many,” she said. “I want to point out the good that these guys do. They save families. They are a necessary resource."

Tinline said she wants charitable agencies like this one to get more support, services and funding.

The ASK Wellness Society, originally started in 1992 as the AIDS Society of Kamloops, to promote health and wellness and to provide education to strengthen the Kamloops community, according to its website.

In 2016 the society changed its name to the ASK Wellness Society to reflect the initiatives to serve all in the community who struggle with their housing, health, or employment.

READ MORE: 'Our staff are beaten up:' ASK Wellness wants national approach to overdose crisis

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