In Memory of Tina Squires
As a student drawn to the Child and Youth Care program many years ago, Tina aspired to engage in career opportunities that would enable her to encourage at-risk children and youth to build on their strengths and to find their own voice. Tina experienced many hardships and traumatic experiences in her childhood, and she knew better than most the difference that can be made by a compassionate and skilled professional working with a child who needs help.
When, as a 20 year-old Fanshawe student, she died by suicide in 1994, it opened up a conversation about the issue of youth who age out of care but who still need guidance and support.
Those close to Tina, including friends and staff at London’s Teen Girls Home, knew how she struggled through difficult and often volatile family circumstances. Intergenerational trauma, abuse, family addiction issues and time ”in care” in both Toronto and London, shaped her childhood experiences and formative years. Several months after testifying against her father at a preliminary hearing in 1993, the young woman’s suicide in April 1994 was seen as a direct result of her father’s horrific abuse.
Impact
Still today, some twenty-five years later, former classmates, friends, faculty and those in the field of care reflect on Tina’s resilience in pursuing her education in anticipation of a vocation that would provide personal fulfillment and hope.
To pay tribute to Tina’s courage and healing, the community raised funds to create the Tina Squires Child and Youth Care Award. The award will recognize the potential of students enrolled in the Child and Youth Care program as well as signal the importance of ensuring that all students have the opportunity to pursue their dreams. By acknowledging the attributes that Tina so poignantly demonstrated—resilience, kindness, hard work, and reaching out a helping hand—the award will be especially meaningful to those impacted by Tina’s short life.