S.B., Family Violence Survivor, Feb 2003

I have been a victim of domestic violence for the past 21 years.  I have 3 children who have witnessed this abuse by their father all of their lives.  I have made many attempts to leave my abuser and make a life for my children and myself, only to fail continuously.  My failure to accomplish this dream of actually having a violence free life, I owe in part to the lack of support from and understanding of the “SYSTEM!”

Until I stumbled across Safe Moves I felt that it was probably a waste of my time to try and pursue this dream of leaving and becoming safe once again.  My Safe Moves case manager has given me the desire to fight back and stand up for what my children and I deserved all along.   She has been an inspiration to my family and has continuously gone above and beyond the call of duty.  I will never be able to repay her for the countless hours of phone conversations anytime, day or night; for boosting my self-confidence and helping me to rebuild my self-esteem; and for giving me the courage to take another step in the battle for my family’s life.  She constantly found resources for all my family’s needs when I felt there was little or no hope.  My case manager found a way to overcome obstacles that were placed in front of me and empowered me to be less fearful of the system and to take control of my life.

Safe Moves has been with me every step of the way of this process, making me realize that I am not the demeaning things that my abuser said I was and that I didn’t deserve to be punched or spit on, cursed out, and dragged around like a rag doll on a daily basis.  I have suffered countless black eyes, bruises, broken bones and have even been stabbed several times by my abuser.  And all the while I was mentally and emotionally abused.

The insight and knowledge of domestic violence provided by my Safe Moves case manager,  along with her compassion and strong desire to help victims, has helped me realize that I don’t have to be a victim today.  My family and I have obtained our dream of being free and I owe our lives without violence in very large part to my case manager at Safe Moves. To have such strong professionals in the field of domestic violence is a true asset to victims of such horrible experiences.