Katie Cormier knows how tough it is to rely on government assistance to put food on the table.

She’s been knocked down plenty, but she’s determined to follow her passion and get the education she needs to stand on her own.

“It’s scary and it’s hard. But my biggest thing is if you always wait until you’re 100% ready, it’ll never come. You’ll never be 100% ready. You just have to put your mind to it and do it.”

“I have an eight-year-old son who has autism and ADHD,” Katie says. “When he was born, I was young. I had graduated high school but I hadn’t moved on to post-secondary.

“From 2014 to now, I’d been through 13 different jobs. I tried everything to work, to do schooling, and it just never worked out. I ended up needing to be on Ontario Works and they told me about Contact North around September 2020.”

That encounter changed the trajectory for both Katie and her son.

Katie had already started a course on autism from Algonquin College in order to build her confidence and learn to better care for her son while also finding more balance in her life.

But she wanted to find a career that would be a good fit, and needed something to show for whatever she chose to study.

“I needed my time, effort and money to go into something that would take me where I wanted to go,” Katie says. “My main goal always in the back of my mind was to go to school for nutrition, fitness and health — that’s my biggest passion. I didn’t think I was ever going be able to do that.”

Personal circumstances meant that Katie wouldn’t be able to attend school in person, so she told Contact North she’d need to study at a distance. Soon after that came the perfect fit: Seneca College was offering a fitness and health promotion diploma completely online.

For Katie, that sealed the deal.

Once she finishes the program, she hopes to work at a gym or launch a business of her own to help clients with their own nutrition and fitness.

“I’m more than happy with everybody from Contact North I’ve been in touch with,” Katie says. “It’s been nothing but friendly and helpful. Everyone checked in on me. I think it’s really great.

“It’s scary and it’s hard. But my biggest thing is if you always wait until you’re 100% ready, it’ll never come. You’ll never be 100% ready. You just have to put your mind to it and do it.

“I’m very determined. If I decide I want something, I do it full-on. I’ve been knocked down I can’t even count how many times But every time I get back up and go at it again. I won’t settle until I want to be where I want to be.”