Laura’s House wishes you and your family Joy, Peace and Hope this holiday season.
As this year comes to a close, it is only the beginning for many of the families we serve, starting anew on a path of healing and a journey of independence and growth, learning how to break the cycle of violence once and for all and gaining the tools to form happy and healthy relationships.
We hope that you will consider contributing to Laura’s House this year end, giving families' we serve the ability to overcome the violence present in their lives and the ability to become Joyful, Peaceful and Hopeful all year long.
Over 250,000 individuals in Orange County are affected by domestic violence. Help us to continue to expand our programs and services to meet this overwhelming need - right here in our own backyard.
Please take a moment to read Marie's Story - A Message from one of our recent graduates, who would like to share with you her experience, just one short year ago.
On December 13, I walked downstairs after putting the children to bed and he was standing on the opposite side of the kitchen counter. I bent down to pick up a pair of shoes and as I stood up I heard the familiar sound of the knife as it flipped open. I jumped as I saw that he was holding the knife at my eye level. When I jumped he grinned an evil grin. At that moment I knew that if I did not leave something terrible was going to happen.
The next morning after dropping the children off at school, I called our children’s doctor, whom I trust and she gave me the number for Laura’s House and said that for our safety we should leave immediately. After a very emotional intake call with the amazing staff at Laura’s house, I was told that I was accepted into their program. Making the decision to leave everyone and everything familiar behind to go into a shelter is like jumping off a cliff. No one in her right mind would do it unless what is behind you is more terrifying that what lies ahead. I had the sense that if Laura’s House didn’t catch me, I would surely fall to my death.
Let me tell you for a moment just how Laura’s House “caught us” from that cliff dive. From the intake call on Dec. 14 until ten months later when I moved out of the transitional shelter into my own apartment, my experience with Laura’s House was life changing.
Emergency shelter:
- Immediate safety and security
- Help with the legal processes
- Emotional and therapeutic support
- Education about domestic abuse
- Personal empowerment through individual and group therapy sessions
- Assistance getting any and every resource that we needed such as financial assistance, schooling for the children, immediate medical and dental care
Transitional shelter:
- Daily support from my case manager
- Help and guidance for the future
- Practical workshops on anything from managing finances to car maintenance
- Continued therapy for my children and myself
- Time to heal emotionally and get on my feet in every way
- Guidance in getting set up in my own apartment
Finally, there was the step into independence. I exhausted all the money that I had saved to get into my new apartment. Laura’s House brought a truck on my move in day and provided me with every, last thing to set up a home. It didn’t stop there! At Christmas time, Laura’s House delivered a Christmas tree, decorations and presents for the children and for me. Coming to Laura’s House was the first time I had received presents on Christmas since the first year of my marriage, 10 years prior. Once again, Laura’s House had made me feel like I was valuable and important.
For the better part of a year, Laura’s House masterfully carried me through the process of beginning life again and completely equipped me for the journey ahead.
I’d like to take a moment to tell you about my life today. I’m an ESL teacher at a local language college. I have three classes to go in order to complete my master’s degree in special education, and I’m training to run my first mini-marathon next year.
Laura’s House brought me to a place of brokenness and utter subservience to and dependence on an abusive man, to a woman who is free from oppression. I am forever grateful for the investment that Laura’s House made in my life and the lives of my precious children. I believe that investment will reap dividends in our lives for generations to come.
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2014 Laura’s House Graduate & Alumni
