The odds were stacked against her from the beginning. Born in rural British Columbia, Ellen spent much of her childhood with her siblings in an old, small, one-bedroom trailer without power or running water. Raised primarily by an alcoholic father, after losing her mother at a young age, Ellen was—in her own words—the “weird, dirty, bush kid who wore dirty clothes to school … and that nobody wanted to play with.” By the age of ten, Ellen had already been sexually abused by several people, also by the age ten, she had her first experience with drugs. By grade six, she was drinking regularly, seeking to become oblivious to the world around her—often as her father’s drinking buddy.
 
At just seventeen, Ellen became pregnant with her first daughter, and she soon found herself in a series of abusive relationships. Along the way, her second daughter was born, and as she continued to struggle with alcoholism and depression, her daughters also lost their chances for a normal childhood.