Ryerson Alumni - Winter 2018 - 37

Watch a video about Anna Amy Ho at ryerson.ca/alumni

PROFILES

Grateful
every day
Crisis counsellor sows
the seeds of resilience

PHOTOGRAPH BY ARTHUR MOLA, IMAGE ARTS '11

BY SUE HORNER

A NNA A M Y HO, Social Work '15,
believes everyone carries some weight
of trauma or hardship; it's what you do with
the experience that matters. What Ho has
done is make a difference.
Ho was 13 when she witnessed the murder of her mother and grandmother by her
mother's abusive partner. She credits Victim
Services Toronto for guiding her first steps
in a world without family.
Living independently at 16, Ho focused
on her studies as one area where she had
control, and graduated from Ryerson with
honours. Post-university travel offered yet
another perspective on life. Two and a half
months of backpacking in Australia showed
Ho how people can be happy with very little.
"That inspired a mindset of being grateful
every day," Ho says. "People call me resilient, but I believe everyone has the capacity to overcome anything. It's a matter of
nurturing that seed of resilience, doing the
things that make you happy and never giving up on yourself."
Ho puts her belief into practice as a
crisis counsellor and violence prevention
program co-ordinator at Victim Services
Toronto. She is also a passionate public
speaker on resilience, child abuse and child
welfare, and has spurred changes in child
welfare policy and practices.
Ho has been recognized with numerous
awards, including the Attorney General's
Victim Services Award of Distinction and
the Isadore Sharp Outstanding Recent
Graduate Award.
"I'm grateful," Ho says, "but the biggest
reward is that sharing my story has inspired
people to think, 'If Anna can do it, I can, too.'"

Anna Amy Ho
recommends
doing the things you
love to help you
stay resilient. She
took up aerialism
as a hobby
and it's now one
of her careers.

Ho now plans to study for her master of
social work, then establish an accessible,
affordable program of music, dance and art
therapy. Eventually, she wants to open a therapeutic arts centre, where children and adults
can access arts-based forms of therapy.
For now, she says, "I'm grateful every day
for what I have in my life. I love my jobs,
I have friends I consider family and a wonderful partner who keeps me grounded.
And I'm happy to give back to the community that helped me."
Winter 2018 / Ryerson University Magazine

http://www.ryerson.ca/alumni

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