Women take back their lives, become Ranch staff
Two staff members in Ranch Ehrlo’s family programs embody hope and serve as beacons of light for families struggling to overcome adversity.
While each of their stories is as unique as the families they support, the journeys of Violet and Martine are paralleled by addiction and the courage to change.
Both women have taken back their lives, and their families. Violet and Martine, once on the receiving end of Ranch Ehrlo’s services, are now working in the Family Treatment Program (FTP) helping families just like their own.
Violet entered the FTP in November 2023 with her husband and six children. They moved from James Smith First Nation to Regina to dedicate nine incredible months to learning, growing, and becoming a family after having their children in care.
“I really love how the program helped my family in the reunification process. We were so disconnected, but we really learned how to be a family again” shared Violet.
“When we first got here, we wrote down what we hoped to get from the program and in the end, we ended up getting so much more than what we had wish for.”
Violet said it was her own experience with the program staff, groups, and community of families that inspired her to help others.
“This was one of my goals – I wanted to come back and work here because I love how Ranch Ehrlo helps families and it was something I was really looking forward to being part of,” she explained.
Shortly after graduating from the program, Violet visited the FTP offices in downtown Regina to reconnect with staff. While she was visiting, she learned of a job opportunity that piqued her interest and unfolded from there.
Violet began working as a family treatment worker with Ranch Ehrlo in January 2025, providing parents support in daily living routines and household tasks.
“I help support the parents in whatever they need help with, maybe that’s washing the dishes, preparing the meals, helping with transportation to groups and appointments, or childcare,” she explained.
Violet said her lived experience provides her with invaluable insight into how the parents may feeling and coping with the changes and challenges of reunification. When she shares her own experience, she finds parents to be both inquisitive and comforted by her story.
“When I tell families that I was a former participant of the program some of them are quite amazed and comforted to know they’re not alone,” she said. “I think it gives them hope.”
Martine, a colleague and former participant, agreed, saying that personal stories not only inspire hope but help in the healing process.
“I’m so proud to have went through this program and continue to learn from it by helping people who are in the position that I was,” she said.
Martine was raised by her grandparents from a young age and fell into addiction at only 12 years old. When she became a mother, Martine wasn’t prepared to be the parent her children needed her to be.
After losing a child in 2014, Martine was pushed over the edge and addiction took hold of her life. In 2015, Martine’s three children were apprehended, and she fell into a dangerous lifestyle of addiction, abuse, gangs, and eventually jail. When Martine was released in 2019, her worker provided her the option to seek treatment and work toward reunification with her children.
Despite her self-doubt, Martine entered the FTP in October 2020 and after months of dedicated work, she graduated the program in February 2021 with her children returned to her care.
“Addiction takes everything from you. It took my mind, it took my skills to have a conversation, my ability to shop for groceries, and to make appointments. I didn’t know how to do everyday life, but this program showed me how to live and they helped me. They taught me all of these things before I got my kids back because I really didn’t know how to live as a person much less as a mother.”
It was serendipitous moment at a local doctor’s office that Martine bumped into a former FTP staff and was eventually hired at Ranch Ehrlo. In December 2024, she joined the team as a family treatment worker – devoting her days to helping families in need.
Every time she shares her story, Martine’s reminded of how far she has come.
“The family treatment program really saved my life,” she said. “It helped me, got me to where I am now, and it continues to help me every day.”
The FTP is one of four family-focused programs at Ranch Ehrlo that prevent the placement of children out of their homes, assist families to reunite after having a child in care, or provide family-based care for children. Learn more about the family programs.