To protect the identity of our residents, some of the details described below have been changed. The stories that follow, however, describe challenges that many of our residents face.



A Celebrating Success Graduate Shares Her Story
There is only one other time that I felt this happy, this proud, or had my heart filled with this much joy. That was October 16, 1996, when I delivered a healthy boy into this world. I had already known the pain of losing a pregnancy due to domestic violence five years earlier, and I vowed this precious gift would not go through that kind of life. more...



A Second Step Success Story
I was a waitress in a Chinese restaurant when I met my children's father. I felt sorry for him because his ex-girlfriend had taken off to another state with his son. We started seeing a lot of each other, and soon I moved in with him. Harry always wanted to know where I was and who I was with. He rarely "approved" of either because he thought I was being unfaithful. Slowly I started losing touch with who I was. I also had less contact with my family. The physical abuse started around this time. more...



From The Second Step to Permanent Housing
Mary is a 32 year-old mother of two children, ages 5 and 8. She was married to her abuser, who is the father of her children, for 10 years. At the beginning of their relationship, he was very kind and made Mary feel special with the amount of attention he paid to her. Things quickly changed, however, and he became very jealous and possessive and began mentally abusing Mary with put-downs and innuendoes. When he asked Mary to marry him and move out of state, Mary rationalized that once they were married, their situation would improve. She couldn't have been more wrong. Once they were married, the abuse became worse and would occasionally get physical. With the pregnancy and birth of Mary's first child, the physical abuse became more frequent and severe. more...



Amalah's Story
Good evening. My name is Amalah and I’d like to share my story. I am from Kenya. I met an American man, we fell in love, and he brought me here to the U.S. so that we could be together. We lived together for two months after which we got married. The marriage was stormy from the beginning, but I had high hopes that it would get better. We had a baby girl and today is her birthday! She turns three today. My son, who was 9 at the time, joined us from Kenya. He went back to Kenya last summer to live with my mom. Initially, I felt that my husband loved me very much, and that was why I wanted my marriage to work out. He came across as very affectionate, attentive and protective of me. But, with time, I realized that the intent of this behavior was to control me, not to love me. more...