Jenny was eight months pregnant. She was tired that night. She had
just put her two-year old daughter to bed, but she knew she had
a long night ahead.
The abuse started pretty much as usual. This time
it was about the way she cooked dinner. It was something that would
be overlooked in most homes—but Bill, her husband, never overlooked
such “mistakes” in their home. By midnight a chair was
broken, the kitchen was torn apart and Jenny had several new bruises.
She kept turning away from Bill to protect her unborn baby, but
that just made him angrier. Now she was really scared.
Bill suddenly grabbed Jenny by the hair, threw her
to the floor and pushed a knife to her throat. “The only way
you will get out of this marriage is in a body bag,” he snarled.
Jenny’s face was pinned to the floor, but she
could see into the bedroom where her two-year-old daughter was screaming
from her bed. The terror in her daughter’s eyes pierced an
even deeper wound into her heart at the thought of her child growing
up without a mother.
The abuse had gotten worse over the past three years.
Early in their relationship, Bill had started with verbal abuse.
Then he slapped her, and before long he was beating her. But that
night Jenny had never been so scared for her safety. She knew she
had to escape before Bill carried through with his threat.
The next day, as soon as Bill left for work, Jenny
called 2-1-1, the United Way “First Call for Help.”
They gave her number of the Heartland Family Service Domestic Abuse
Crisis Line and told her to call immediately. She called, and the
staff person explained how to make a “safety plan” to
prepare for the day she would leave.
Four weeks later, after her second daughter was born,
Jenny called the crisis line and said she was ready to leave—right
now. She had no transportation and no money, so our staff arranged
for a cab to pick her up. She had only fifteen minutes to gather
everything she and her daughters would need for a long time.
Within the hour she arrived at our Safe Haven domestic abuse shelter
with her daughters, some diapers and clothing—and more fear
than most people feel in a lifetime.
After they arrived, the Safe Haven staff asked Jenny
what she wanted to do, and then helped her plan her next steps.
Jenny was afraid of Bill, so the staff helped her to obtain a protection
order and other legal documents. She did not have a car, so the
staff provided transportation to court and appointments. Always
she had a legal advocate with her, helping her with every step,
as part of the program services.
While she lived at the Safe Haven, Jenny talked to
Bill and he continued to plead with her for a while. But Jenny was
steadfast in her decision to leave him. The staff supported her
decision, and helped her with transportation and supplies (diapers,
wipes, clothes, toiletries, food) until she began to receive an
income. Jenny and her daughters stayed at the Safe Haven for eight
months while she made arrangements and found a job. They moved into
their own apartment after Jenny’s fourth paycheck.
Now Jenny is in her own home with a good job and safe
child care. Periodically, she returns for a counseling session or
two to deal with the fear that still lingers. She is feeling stronger
than ever before. But she can see the impact the violence at home
had on her older daughter, even at only two years old.
“The hardest decision I ever made was also the
best decision of my life,” she continued. “I knew I
could never go back, and that once I made the phone call, our lives
would change forever. And Thank God, it has. This will never happen
to me again.
“I owe my life to Safe Haven,” she said.
“They gave me back my life.”
Watch Jenny’s
video
“Jenny” is not her real name, but her
story is so strong and her survival is so important that she wants
to help others who may be in a similar situation. She chooses to
help by telling her story. You can help others like Jenny too, with
your donation to the Heartland Family Service annual campaign. (link
to Donate Now page)
You can make a difference in the lives of people
who are less fortunate than yourself:
When you look at everything that’s going wrong
in our community, it’s easy to feel helpless. Like there’s
nothing that one person can do that will amount to any good. But
there is. When you support an agency you can trust, an agency that
is already doing so much good in the community, it makes a true
difference. You make a difference.
Consider a donation
Look into our Donor Opportunities
Read more client stories
Have a question? Contact
us
(Note: Please understand that our client’s
stories are deeply personal. The names and photos have been
changed to protect their identity.)
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