Input | Output |
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Link | Youtube |
Published | 2023/12/18 |
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Status | article incomplete |
Beau says:
Beau shares a powerful story of survival and transformation after domestic violence, underscoring the impact of community support in saving lives.
Supporters of survivors
The full transcript provides a detailed account of a survivor's journey from domestic violence to empowerment, showcasing the critical role of community support in saving lives.
#DomesticViolence #SurvivorSupport #CommunityImpact #Empowerment #ShelterResources
Well, howdy there, internet people.
It's Bo again.
So today's going to be a little bit different.
No news.
Just we're going to go over a message.
Because I got a message, but it's really for y'all, and I
think it's worth reading.
Because it's something that we can't normally do.
We can't normally relay this type of message under normal
circumstances.
So I get letters from shelters that we help pretty often.
And most times, I don't actually really read them.
I open them up, and they normally
fit this same kind of format.
It's a fundraising appeal.
And it says, due to your last donation,
we were able to do x number of days for x number of people,
or we started this new program, or something like that.
And don't get me wrong, like all of that's good.
But being real about it, we check into the organizations
before we start working with them.
Like before we start supporting them, we look into them.
And the financials are not necessarily the deciding factor.
We talk to people who have used their services.
That's the deciding factor.
The thing is, we can't ever share those
because the people that we talk to are people that we know.
And we live in a small community.
So that's not something that we can share.
And the information they provide most times, it is.
It's financial stuff, which, just so you know,
the having a A plus rating or an X star rating on the financials doesn't necessarily mean
that they provide good services. Those two things don't always go together.
A lot of times they do, but sometimes they don't.
This letter is a little bit different because it is somebody's story. It's about using
services. So I'm going to read it. I normally don't do like content warning
or whatever because it's news what we normally talk about and news is
normally it's not always good. In this case there is a description of a
domestic violence incident. Just a heads up. It was early November. My husband had
to come home from work and took his bad day out on me.
The beating was particularly brutal.
At that moment, I believed he would kill me.
Our neighbor heard the attack through our apartment wall
and called 911.
I was taken to the hospital.
I spent most of the evening in the ER.
The nurse provided me with the hotline number.
I called and was cleared to enter the emergency shelter
immediately.
By the time I was released from the ER,
It was late at night.
An advocate met me at the entrance to the hospital.
She made sure I knew I was safe and that they
were there to help me.
Despite the late hour and all of the rooms being full,
my intake advocate made me feel safe and welcome.
She set up a little area in the living room
with an air mattress, extra blankets, and pillows.
She asked me how I was feeling.
All I could do was cry.
The pain from my swollen, bruised face, exhaustion, and broken heart were overwhelming.
She understood and let me go to sleep.
In the morning, I was still overwhelmed, thinking logically it was difficult.
One of the advocates sat down with me and helped me identify the next steps.
She suggested I go to work because I am all I have.
I thought this was the first good thing I was encouraged to do, especially since I felt
like I had lost everything leading a toxic relationship.
The workshops and support groups taught me about power and control in relationships,
how to set healthy boundaries, and how to cope with healing away from an abusive relationship.
These lessons helped change the cycle of my life.
I feel like I've unlocked a new level of confidence,
resilience, and awareness in myself.
I worked with the attorney to secure a restraining order
against my now ex-husband.
I worked with advocates each week
to identify my goals and action steps.
Every week, I accomplished many of my short-term goals.
Seeing my progress helped me gain new confidence
in my ability to survive and take care of myself.
Because of you, I am alive to celebrate this season of hope and peace with a renewed spirit
filled with gratitude.
A year ago, your support saved my life.
That's addressed to me, but the message is for y'all.
fundraisers that we do this is what they do this is what they do I know this year
it was very haphazard I will put some links to organizations that I know do
good work down below in the description if y'all want to get involved or you
missed the the live stream that we do, remember there are shelters like this
wherever you live. Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.
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