Success Story

Back in June we received a crisis call on the hotline from a woman who spoke Portuguese and needed translation assistance. After connection with the translator the woman stated that her husband was extremely abusive to herself as well as their young child. She was afraid to leave the home due to her being from another country, even though she was a legal citizen. We were able to approve them for shelter services and arranged a time to meet at a public location close to her home to provide help with transportation. She was afraid to involve the police because her abuser always told her he was friends with most of them in town. We agreed for her to give us another call the next morning to finalize the meeting time, but we never received that call.

Then one day this September we received another call from the same woman in need of help. This time she was able to speak enough English to communicate, but translation services were still offered just in case she would feel more comfortable. We were able to discuss how the abuse had continued since the last time we spoke. She apologized for not leaving last time and I reassured her that it was okay, that not everyone is able to safely leave when they plan to. She said that her husband was not only yelling at her in front of their child, but she was being forced to care for his other children and take care of the home. She was expected to keep the home spotless, and she explained that she had several calluses on her hands from scrubbing the floors. She said he began to physically punish their child for no reason and in ways that were excessive. She mentioned having video recordings of many incidents proving the abuse and she was ready to pack them up to leave the home. We once again put a plan in place to meet in a public place the following day.

We agreed to meet mid-morning, but she called and said that they needed to wait until after lunch as he returned home everyday to eat before returning to work. She wanted to wait undl he had returned to work to save risking him coming home while she was getting her things out of the house. She called again just a few minutes later to say that she needed to leave as soon as possible because she thought he may have figured out that she was planning to leave.
Staff quickly jumped into action to get to the meeting place as soon as they could. Staff were able to meet them both at the public location, helped them load their luggage, and hurried out of the area before her husband was able to return home.

As soon as they were safely in the van she burst into tears while thanking us for helping them escape. She said she had been married to her husband for years and the abuse was only getting worse. They met in her home country before moving here to get married. The abuse began shortly after she became pregnant which led to her not being allowed to work outside of the home. She was afraid that the escalation would lead to serious injuries or her husband acting out his threats of taking their child and her never being able to see him again. We talked on the way to shelter about what her plans were now that she was able to make her own decisions and she said her main goal was to return to her home country. She was worried how legal proceedings would go with her being an immigrant and she expressed that her biggest worry was losing her child.

After getting settled into shelter, staff were able to assist her with a referral to Three Rivers Legal Services to obtain help with an injunction for protection. She received a phone call the next day with news that they would be able to help her, but they didn’t know how long it would be before they could get to her case. She became a little discouraged that the process would take so long, and it would prohibit her from moving forward with her other goals if she couldn’t trust that her child would be safe if she dropped him off at school.

Staff had the idea to call the FL DV Legal Hotline and see if they had any advice on the legal side of things for someone with her legal citizen status. We connected with the immigration attorney and were instructed to let the participant know that she could call the attorney directly and speak in her native language to help answer her questions as well as reassure her of what would be the right steps to take concerning custody of her child. When we were able to inform the participant of this, she became very excited that she would be able to speak with someone in her own language to explain what was going on.

Within the next couple of days, the attorney we had previously spoken with at the FL DV Legal Hotline personally called Three Rivers on the participants behalf. The next day the participant received another call from Three Rivers to let her know they would be helping her file for the injunction that same afternoon. To say that the participant was excited is an understatement!

The following day, staff transported the participant and her child to the local library to meet for the Three Rivers consultation. A couple hours later she called to be picked up and informed us that she had already been granted the injunction. She returned shelter and went straight into the kitchen to cook a celebration dinner for her child.

A couple of days later she came into the office to let us know that she would be leaving shelter to move to a neighboring city with a close friend of hers who also spoke her native language. This friend already had a job lined up for her that included school/daycare for her child and they both were excited to move on to the next steps of the process of becoming a new abuse free family unit.

On her final way out of shelter she stopped by the office to complete a proper departure and presented a picture she had drawn to thank us. She said she would never have been able to get out of the home much less get to relocate so quickly if it wasn’t for our help. She gave the on-site staff hugs of appreciation and headed on their way to forever.

REGISTRATION

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A Copy Of The Official Registration And Financial Information May Be Obtained From The Division Of Consumer Services By Calling Toll-free (800-435-7352) Within The State Or Visiting Www.floridaconsumerhelp.com. Registration Does Not Imply Endorsement, Approval, Or Recommendation By The State.

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