ADSUM COURT People with housing often wonder, “How do homeless people end up on the streets?” In reality, the story of every homeless person is unique. Some grow up in unsafe homes and move out at a young age to survive. Some get sick and can’t support themselves; some suffer addictions that sever their ties to family and friends. Trudy Cox was put out by her mother when she was 16 and lived in foster care until she was too old for the system. She moved from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia in search of a new life, and wound up at Adsum House, a safe shelter for women and children in Halifax. Cox stayed there off and on for the next 20 years while she struggled with an addiction. Cox battles her addiction to this day. She has been kicked out of shelters and isolated from her family, including her now 18-year-old daughter. “My goal is to overcome my addiction and to reunite with my family,” Cox says. “I want to be part of my daughter’s life.” This time, she has been clean for seven months, all while living at Adsum Court. Adsum has 24 apartments for single women. Rent is geared to income; everyone pays 30% of gross income (or whatever income assistance allows) to cover rent, heat and utilities. Adsum provides supports on site and tenants can use services at Adsum’s other locations in HRM.
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Adsum Court • 23 apartments for single women • rent geared to income maximum of 30% • on-site programming, advocacy, referrals & supportive counseling
Jill Cooke is the client support officer at Adsum Court. Her job is to help the tenants connect with the therapeutic and recreational services they need to stay off the streets. She advocates for the women with the Department of Community Services and in “whatever challenges come up”; job applications, relationships with parole and police officers, connections to addictions counselors, nurses and social workers. Cooke provides friendly reminders about rent and other responsibilities, and helps with day-to-day living. In short, Cooke and other Adsum staff are there as non-judgmental, trusted allies who keep women from falling through the cracks. If they are not supported to navigate the system and advocate for themselves, people won’t take them seriously.