When Jen learned that her husband had choked one of their sons while she was at work, she took her four children and left. A few weeks later she heard about Fresh Start and she and her children began attending the Creating Healthy Family Relationships workshops at the Women’s Resource Center. As time went on, she began to take advantage of other services offered at Fresh Start: self-esteem workshops, mentoring and more. She did all that she could to feel empowered, supported and strong enough to stay away from her abuser.
Now, after a year, she has gained the courage to stand up to the children’s father concerning visitation and she has found her voice at work. She is making safer, healthier choices as she ventures out into the dating world and she is a mom who listens to her children and helps them to see the difference between healthy and abusive relationships. Her children, too, are changing.
“I have three children in the Creating Healthy Family Relationships program,” she said. “A 12-year-old who is becoming a nice young man again, a 10-year-old who is responding with self-empowerment, and an 8-year-old who is learning about his emotions. [Thanks to Creating Health Family Relationships, I recognize more about who is doing what around me and how it really affects me and my kids.”