'We found each other for a reason': 2 women connect on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside

Kristi Blakeway and Cindy Cadwell don't come across as the likeliest of friends. 

Blakeway, 43, is a principal at a high school in Maple Ridge, B.C, where she lives with her husband and two small children.

Cadwell, 49, lives in social housing on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and struggles with drug addiction. 

But to see the two of them together is to know they share a deep appreciation for one another. 

Theirs is a story that proves how empathy and persistence can bridge the gap between people living in seemingly separate worlds.

"She's such an amazing human being," Cadwell says of Blakeway. "The things that she does — reaching out."

Kristi Blakeway, right, shows Cindy Cadwell an old photo of her over breakfast at the Lost and Found cafe on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. (Maryse Zeidler/CBC)

Reconnecting

The pair recently reconnected over breakfast at the Lost and Found cafe on Hastings Street. They met a few times a year to touch base and help each other out. 

Blakeway — blond, petite and quick to smile in her form-fitting dark clothes — sits close to Cadwell and speaks softly as they eat their meal.

Cadwell — stringy brown hair, a bit gaunt, but also quick to smile in her oversized clothes — asks about her friend's family. 

When Kristi Blakeway, right, first met Cindy Cadwell, the latter had been thinking about throwing herself in front of a bus. Part of what kept her alive was the memory of the daughter she had given up for adoption nearly 30 years ago. (Kristi Blakeway/Project Hello)

They met five years ago when Blakeway was on the Downtown Eastside handing out water as part of her volunteer work with her project, Beyond Hello.

The project helps less fortunate residents of the neighbourhood reconnect with family members by sending Christmas cards.

When Blakeway met Cadwell, the latter was scrawny and manic and thinking about throwing herself in front of a bus. She was battling HIV, Hepatitis C and heroin addiction.

She told Blakeway about the three-month-old daughter, Paige, she had given up for adoption nearly 30 years ago. 

"I just needed to know what became of her life. And I wanted her to know that the choices I made for her were choices I made out of love," Cadwell said.

'It makes me feel extra loved'

Armed with only a first name, scant details and the power of Facebook, Blakeway helped Cadwell reunite with her daughter. 

"It was pretty amazing," Blakeway said of the emotional reunion in June 2013. "It was neat to see how similar they were."

Despite not having seen each other since Paige was a baby, the two shared the same laugh, mannerisms — and struggles with addiction.

Cindy Cadwell, right, and her daugther Paige. The two reconnected after Cindy gave up Paige for adoption nearly 30 years earlier. (Kristi Blakeway/Project Hello)

Blakeway said that, since then, she has seen Cadwell improve physically and mentally. Although Cadwell still battles addiction, it's not on the same scale as before. 

"It makes me feel extra loved ... knowing that there's people somewhere out there in the world that think about me, and I them," Cadwell said.

Unsung heroes

But it's not just Cadwell who has benefited from the relationship. Blakeway considers Cadwell a friend who inspires her daily. 

"We found each other for a reason I think, right?" she says to Cadwell, smiling across their eggs benny. 

Cindy Cadwell speaks with her sister in Ontario. The two were able to reconnect with help from Kristi Blakeway and Project Hello. (Maryse Zeidler/CBC)

Blakeway recently spoke at the Women's Collaborative Hub 2017 Women Influencer Awards, where she noted Cadwell as one of five women she called "unsung heroes."

"They are my constant reminder that each one of us has the power to connect a community," she said in her speech. "And that it's the smallest acts that make the biggest difference." 

Still missing

Blakeway estimates she has helped at least 600 family members reconnect since she started her project.

But she also thinks about the 200 or so Christmas cards that she hasn't been able to send. Often all the information she and her volunteers are given is a name and a city. 

Kristi Blakeway started Project Hello in 2009 with the goal of changing people's perceptions of those who live on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. (Maryse Zeidler/CBC)

Sometimes, despite weeks of searching on social media, online phone books and other avenues of the internet, they're not able to find an address to which to send the cards.

But Blakeway persists in finding them — with Cadwell acting as one of many reminders why.