Domestic violence is a crime littered with victims. In this case, a mother with four children.It started out slowly. Over time, the aggression increased and so did the excuses at the emergency room. A bike accident, a fall, running into a cabinet ... until a doctor recognized there were too many injuries to be explained with these excuses.She had tried to escape, even crawling through a fence to meet her social worker. Despite several calls to shelters, they could find no available beds. As she was crawling back through the fence, he caught her. More violence. For several weeks, he kept mom and the children his prisoners, never allowing them to leave the house. The one person who was supposed to love them preyed upon them, often bloodying them in his fits of rage.The abuse went on for years; she hasthe scars to prove it. Child Protective Services finally intervened, and suddenly the children were gone. With the one thing mom had to live for now taken away, she became broken, a shell of who she once was. Still the abuse continued. Like many victims of domestic violence, she had come to believe the venom he spewed at her.
Desperately missing her children, divorce was the only way to get her children back. That last beating was so bad that it sent him to prison. She recovered and worked hard to get her children back, but soon found themselves without a home.She now has her own cleaning business and is going to college, determined that the cycle of abuse ends with her. Mom and kiddos will soon be moving into a brand-new apartment, fully furnished by one of HART’s partnering churches. Mom is overwhelmed with gratitude and is starting to recognize just how valuable she really is.Please give generously to HART on the Big Day of Giving to help us restore hope... for those who have lost all hope. You can donate here: https://www.bigdayofgiving.org/elkgrovehart
