Janel Campbell – The Overcomer

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“If I gave up, someone else would be telling my story.”

For Evangelist Janel Campbell, life has never been easy. She admits this during our sit down session for the Woman Empowered feature. It is one of the reasons why I wanted to speak with her. Being empowered means that you have become stronger, and more confident, especially in controlling your life and claiming your rights as a human being. It means not submitting to the victim role, even though you are dealing with situations that have made you a victim.

True personal empowerment requires a person to set meaningful goals, identify what they want in life, and to take action to achieve these goals, all the while having an impact on the world around you. I could not find a more fitting description of an empowered individual than Janel Campbell, and because of that,  I would like to share her story with you.

“I was born in Clarendon, Jamaica, and I am a country girl at heart. Most of my earliest memories involve struggle. We didn’t have a television. We didn’t have electricity. Shoot! We didn’t even have indoor toilets. We had to figure things out. Everyday was a survival. It’s not just my birthplace, it is where I learned to survive.

I moved to Canada in Grade nine; the year was1991 . When I arrived in Canada, my first home was the city of  Scarborough. I attended Agincourt Collegiate,  which was a non-semester school. Not too long after, I moved to Brampton, but there were no non-semester schools in Brampton, so I ended up going to a school in Mississauga called Meadowvale Secondary School , and completed my high school career at  Bramalea Secondary School.

I did what a lot of students do, and opted to further my education. I went off to University of Windsor, and attended St. Clair College for two years. I graduated with a Sociology Degree, and Criminology minor, from Windsor U, and Law and Security diploma from St. Clair College.”

Janel had a difficult time finding work after she graduated university. “To be honest, the degree did not work. I struggled to get in my field. I struggled to get a job to pay back OSAP. So, I decided to leverage my diploma and get a job in security. I stayed in this field for two years. I made enough money to go into a business that I was passionate about, the food business.”

With a passion for food, and a love of cooking, Janel opened a restaurant called Jamrock. She was able to nab the perfect restaurant location, and for three years, life was good for Janel. Then the 2009 recession hit, and this changed the course of her life again.

“It was a struggle. I was a single, and I had a young son I had to take care of. I tried to get back into the workforce with my degrees. I started volunteering with United Achievers, as a way to get my foot through the door. I also started working as a lunchroom supervisor at Rowntree Public School.

 I remember at that time I had a house, and I couldn’t afford to pay the mortgage I had hit rock bottom, and I needed help, but didn’t know where to go. I had a friend who educated me on how to get back on my feet. I had to go on social assistance for a while. It was there that I learned about the food bank.”

 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favour to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.

Ecclesiastes 9:11

Janel started accessing the food bank, and during her time there she learned some life lessons. She encountered people going through her situation  and worst. She began to do intake work with the food bank, as a way of giving back.

“I  thought to my self, how can I help myself, and also help others. I began studying charities, and how to give back. My problem helped me figure out solutions. I would have loved to have a place where I could have gone to for solutions. This is when it hit me; why not I be the one to implement such a place.”

This was the birth of LMC (Life Management Centre), which later was renamed Emmanuel Life Management Centre.  It was a gentleman who told her that Emmanuel meant God. “God is in everything we do. Our community needed a place that had resources for people to help them manage their life. Upon starting this venture, I knew that this was truly my purpose.”

Janel shares with me that upon discovering her purpose, her confidence started coming back. Hope started coming back. Purpose was back in her life.

“It fired me up. I became alive again. I was not only able to overcome what I was going through, but I could help those who were and had gone through what I went through. I believe that everyone has a purpose. That purpose is connected to their ministry.

 I no longer blamed others for anything. I was going to be that person who did something for others. My growth was evident in so many areas of my life: emotionally, mentally, financially, spiritually, and physically. I was now in a place where I could pour into others.”

Janel was reminded of a story from her youth, when a woman that she used to go to school with back in Jamaica shared a story. “Remember the time when I came to school, and I didn’t have anything to eat. You fed me. I am not surprised that you are doing what you are doing now.”

 Janel has a message to young women out there.

“Don’t give up. Be resilient. As long as we have life, we hope. We need a level of endurance.. You will not die. Your situation will not kill you, it is teaching you how strong your really are.”