Lorraine: Writing to stay alive
Lorraine’s story is difficult, at times even devastating. The details she shares are raw, not to provoke, but because she chose to tell her life story authentically – exactly as she lived it.
For her, truth — even uncomfortable truth — is essential to understanding the journeys of women survivors of homelessness, violence, and exploitation. Through all her years of difficulty, one thing stayed with her: her gift for writing. Even on the street, in the cold or in fear, she found refuge in words. Poetry was her escape — her way to breathe for a moment, in spite of everything.
Lorraine was born into a large family where love was a casualty. Home life was marked by alcohol, violence, and fear. At thirteen, after her father punched her in the face, she fled. Alone and vulnerable, she entered a world where her only refuge was on the street.
Photo: Lorraine is living proof that, with the right support and guidance, a vulnerable woman can be reborn and rebuild herself.
For years, she faced cold, hunger, and humiliation. She tells her story with disarming honesty – how she walked through entire nights in shoes so worn down at the heels that nails pierced the sole.
Exploited by predators who took advantage of her vulnerability, she was driven, at first, into a life in bars, then in the world of strip-tease clubs, and eventually in prostitution. Lorraine does not soft-pedal this reality: she talks about assaults, violence, and humiliations that broke her little by little. She was forced to service men in order to survive. Thinking back to that time, she later wrote:
“In the darkest place of the night,
alone on a sidewalk
There was no glory
in such despair.”
Over the years, she endured profoundly traumatic experiences. One of them still haunts her: living and working in soiled clothes, no longer in control of her own body, weakened by drugs and suffering.
One day, something broke… or perhaps reignited. She calls it her rock bottom. She phoned a detox centre. She entered, and she stayed. Little by little, something shifted within her. She slowly rediscovered an inner strength she thought she had lost. She would later write:
“I gathered my courage and persevered
Like a phoenix, I transformed.”
Her poems created a space for healing and became a tool for awareness. For more than 15 years, she was involved in an organization fighting sexual exploitation. She shared her story to help other women break free. She even contributed to the creation of transitional housing, signing a symbolic cheque for $13.5 million to support this essential project.
Today, Lorraine lives in safe, stable housing thanks to Chez Doris. Every night, she buries her face in her pillow, filled with gratitude — gratitude for warmth, for safety, for peace. Gratitude for no longer being outside at –30°C.
In one of her poems, she captures this new chapter with moving simplicity:
“God protects and rewards the afflicted
That is why He blessed me with a beautiful home.”
She now dreams of finishing her autobiography, convinced that her truth — even the hardest parts — can save lives. Lorraine has never told her story to shock, but to shed light, to warn, and to inspire others.
Today, she moves forward with dignity, stability, and deep compassion for those living what she once experienced. She is living proof that, with the right support, vulnerable women can rise again and rebuild.