Born into a working-class family in England, Paul Robinson moved to Canada as a teenager. After training as a hairdresser, he soon owned a chain of popular salons in Victoria, BC, with his wife, Deborah, and travelled the world as an educator in his field while volunteering tirelessly in his own community.

But suddenly, at the peak of success, he lost everything. When an outreach centre for homelessness and addiction opened next to his business, violent incidents made his staff and students afraid to come to the school. Robinson had no choice but to close down, selling the family home to pay off the debt.

Now homeless themselves, he and his wife and their two teenage daughters were forced to start over from rock bottom. As their own lives spiralled out of control, they learned how to triumph over adversity while maintaining compassion for those less fortunate.