Rosa's Story
"Rosa" is a 30 year old Hispanic woman with a 13 year old daughter and 2 year old twins, a boy and a girl. She completed the shelter program and moved into the transitional housing program, where she paid 30% of her income as a stipend.During her stay in transitional housing Rosa used many services. She had individual counseling with the Spanish-speaking counselor. Here she was able to process the abuse she’d lived through and make a plan for her new life.
Rosa also used the help of our court advocate. When going to court for a protection order or any charges brought against her abuser, our court advocate went and sat with her and supported her through the duration of the time she was there.
A referral was made to Pisgah Legal, which determined they could help provide her with counsel during a trial. Referrals were also made to the Western Carolina Community Action agency for help with budgeting and self-sufficiency and to Section 8 and Housing assistance to help her with life outside of Mainstay housing.
She had weekly case management meetings to help her track her goals and set new ones.
When Rosa moved into her own home, she felt ready to begin her new life with her children violence-free.
William's Story
A former attendee of our class came back for one session. The Facilitator offered William an opportunity to speak first to see if he had joined the group for a specific issue that he wanted to discuss. William replied that he was there just to listen and there were no issues. William participated in the group’s discussions and requested time near the end of class to read a story.William’s story was about a blind man who was given a service dog. The man did not want the dog and the dog sensing this was also not adjusting well. After a few days the man decided to give the dog a chance. He found a whole world open up to him as he could now navigate to new places with the dog’s help. The owner was no longer stuck in a chair in the house but had freedom to explore the world again. Then William asked the group, what changed? The man did and if he had not changed and taken advantage of the opportunities he would have missed a much fuller life than what he had previously.
William then commented that he had taken the class twice, went to jail and then was locked up for several months. Then the last time he took the class he realized that the problem with his life was him and he was going to change. The first change was full participating in the class and then making changes in how he dealt with difficult situations.
He is still learning and growing and if the men want their life to change they will need to stop blaming everyone else and start looking within and begin making some changes.
Jenna's Story
When Jenna came to Mainstay for help she was barely in her early 20’s and trying to escape an abusive relationship she’d been in for the past ten months.Jenna recounted that shortly after her boyfriend moved in she learned he was abusing methamphetamines. Jenna had repeatedly asked him to leave but her boyfriend wouldn’t take no for an answer and continued to stay in her home, often striking her with closed fists and pinning her to the floor when he got mad.
When Jenna wasn’t at home her boyfriend would follow her around town, and constantly make threatening phone calls to her throughout the day. Jenna had a hard time holding a job because her boyfriend harassed her at work so frequently.
One of the things Jenna was most fearful of was something happening to her boxer-mix dog that she’d had for several years. Her boyfriend knew how much Jenna loved the dog and threatened to kill it if she tried to leave him.
Mainstay’s court advocate helped Jenna get a restraining order against her boyfriend which ordered him out of her home, and to have no contact with Jenna, her dog, or any place she is employed at.
Today Jenna lives with her dog in a new apartment and has held a good job for almost a year. She tells Mainstay that her restraining order makes her feel safe and protected by the law and she hasn’t heard from her now ex-boyfriend since.
