Brittney Bertrand said she would be on the streets if she hadn't found Stepping Stones, a Surrey program that helps young and at-risk moms and dads.

"It helped show me the parent I want to be, and how to break the cycle. I was raised around addictions," Bertrand said of the program, which helps 80 to 100 local families annually and is run by Youth Unlimited, a Christianbased organization.

Bertrand grew up in a trailer and was raised in poverty. She recalls often having nothing but Mr. Noodles packed for school lunches, which she would crunch up and eat.

Her father has battled addiction for as long as she can remember.

"I had a really tough upbringing," she said, as her eyes began to fill with tears. "It's hard to talk about."

At age 21, she became pregnant. She hadn't been with her boyfriend for very long.

Her mother wasn't really in the picture at the time. Her parents had recently split up and she described her mother as focused on her new boyfriends and in her attempt to relive her youth.

At the time, Bertrand was living with her father in a trailer. Three months into her pregnancy, her father began slipping deeper into his addiction, she said.

"I had to get out," Bertrand said.

"Not even a year later, he lost his home. He lost everything, and I mean everything. He left with the clothes on his back."

And she would have been right there with him on the streets if she hadn't found the Stepping Stones program, she said, which helped her find a place to live, get a job and develop the life skills she needed to take care of herself, her son and her boyfriend, who remains with her.

"It changed me so much. Before having my son I was a very angry person," Bertrand said.

She has been with Stepping Stones for more than four years and has completed the Thrive program, a 10-week comprehensive life skills class for young moms.

And once a week, Bertrand attends Muffin Morning, a Stepping Stones program at Fleetwood Christian Reformed Church.

Moms come together, bake muffins and take part in life skills classes, while their children are taken care of for free.

Bertrand said the program has helped her make new friends.

They plan outings for a lot of major holidays, such as going to the pumpkin patch for Halloween.

"It's amazing the relationships you make. You make close connections here," Bertrand said.

And the relationships she's built with the staff and volunteers are equally special to her.

"They help so much just by being supportive," Bertrand said. "They're not judging you about things you don't understand or don't know. They're just great and they really want to help you."

She said her son Trenton, now three years old, enjoys the program just as much as she does.

He looks forward to the weekly Muffin Morning to see the volunteers and other children.

"I can't ever not make it here. Trenton would never forgive me," she said with a laugh.

Happy with where her life is at, Bertrand is now looking to the future. She is currently upgrading some high school courses and has plans to become a youth or family counsellor.

"I want to do something for my community and help people like me," Bertrand said.

"Just because you grow up a certain way doesn't mean you can't break the cycle."

Kellie Brown, Stepping Stones director, said it's amazing to see the progress made by young moms such as Bertrand.

"We've seen huge changes and huge success," Brown said, adding that 80 to 85 per cent of the Thrive program participants go on to get jobs or go back to school.

Brown said most of the moms who come to the program are really in need, and are often facing issues of poverty and substance abuse firsthand or in a family setting.

"What we want to do is help them so they can help themselves. So they can take care of their families themselves," Brown said. "People can change. We're very much about generational cycles, and breaking generational cycles of poverty."

For more information about Stepping Stones and other Youth Unlimited programs, visit www.youthunlimited. com or steppingstonesbc.com.

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