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- March 20, 2007
Runaway 'stayed alive for a reason'
Taunted for her deafness and race,
her struggles motivated her into a lifelong role of activism
by Nicholas Keung
Immigration/Diversity Reporter
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As
a newcomer from Trinidad in the 1970s, Beverley Halls was constantly taunted
by other school kids in a city still getting used to its growing Caribbean
population.
Not only was she one of the few blacks in her elementary school near College
and Shaw Sts., her deafness made her an easy target for exclusion and
bullying.
It wasn't until she was 12 that a teacher discovered her hearing problem,
noticing she did not respond even when someone spoke right in front of her.
"It was just horrible. I hated everything here," recalls Halls, who arrived
in Canada in 1969 to join her parents. "I wanted to go back home to Trinidad
every day."
Hall says her experiences as a struggling newcomer have motivated her
lifelong activism on social issues ranging from immigrant settlement to
education, affordable housing, food access, disability, income security and
violence against women. For her tireless volunteer work, she is among six
recipients of the 2007 New Pioneers Award for community service.
When Halls finished her education at Old Orchard Public School, she hoped
for better things in high school. Instead it only got worse; she dropped out
of West Toronto Collegiate in Grade 10 and ran away from home.
"You feel isolated and truly believe that you're less than others. Whenever
you try to do something good for yourself, you get put down again," recalls
Halls. "With the bombardment of hatred, I fell in despair."
A "loafer" she met a mall seemed caring but also led her into a life of drug
and alcohol abuse.
She lived on the streets for a few months, then moved to an aunt's home in
Manitoba to get straight. Even then, she suffered from depression and once
tried to end her life. Eventually she won the battle to shed her addictions.
"I believe I stayed alive for a reason," says Halls, now living in
Mississauga and the mother of two adult daughters. "I can't change what
already happened. I just have to accept myself in every way."
Halls later went back to school and began to devote her life to helping
others.
The provincial government appointed her to the board of the College of
Nurses in the 1990s.
She has volunteered at Foodshare, Second Harvest, York Hispanic Centre,
Co-op Housing Federation of Canada and the Income Security Advocacy Centre.
"Kids must understand that not being accepted is not a reason to go out
there to injure yourself," she says.
"I could have had a different life. What I've gone through has allowed me to
help others and be a catalyst for change. Everyone should lend a hand to the
community. It's the best way to celebrate your humanity."
