Shelter

We had a woman with three children come into shelter. Her husband was actively looking for her and making false accusations about her to CPS. This had been an arranged marriage and abusive for many years. They are originally from a different country and he is an attorney in their home country and was using the court system there to abuse her as well.  

Less than a week after entering shelter she moved to another confidential shelter out of the county to be further away from him. She then needed to move to another shelter to access needed services. During this time, she was still working with our legal advocates.  While she was at the shelter in a different county her 11-year-old son had stopped talking, and her 3-year-old daughter would not leave mom’s side. Her 9-year-old daughter had written a note for the advocates here at shelter before they left the first time saying: “why is it that people who are strangers treat us better than a person who is supposed to love us?”.  

These behaviors are manifestations of the trauma they had been experiencing at home along with the multiple moves to different shelters. After a month and a half, she returned to our shelter. She continued to work with our legal advocates and began working with our housing department. She eventually was able to apply for housing at Pivotal Point and was accepted. As result of coming to shelter the family has stable housing, the children are thriving and she is now able to focus on her goals, her mental health and cultivating a healthy future for herself and her children.