Her text read, "I just got the keys", but there was so much more to her story. Twenty years of domestic violence left her feeling no bigger than an amoeba. Yet her courage was awe inspiring. She said it was for her girls. Her two teenage daughters had witnessed their dad push their two-year-old brother down the stairs. They had watched their mom cower in fear, unable to defend herself or them from the onslaught of attacks. She had tried to leave once before after he broke her wrist but had no support and was too ashamed to ask.
With new resolve she stepped out of that door one more time, knowing that he would hunt her with a vengeance. One of HART's board members caught wind of her plight and reached out to her. HART put her and her family in a hotel that night and started looking for solutions, but we didn't have to look far. She was industrious, finding a good paying job and an apartment, but there was a glitch.
The day before her move in, the apartment complex refused to provide all the documentation necessary for her to access HART funds (grant money from the City of Elk Grove) to help with her deposit and first month’s rent. She was devastated. We were devastated! She had already paid to have PG&E and SMUD turned on. We had collected furniture for her new apartment. Now it all came to a screeching halt.
As we desperately started looking at other options, she refused to give up. The next morning, she drove to the apartment’s corporate headquarters to plead her case. They were closed. Dejected, she turned to walk away just as a woman walked out, a woman named Faith. After hearing her story Faith made a few phone calls and said it was all taken care of. The apartment was hers!
Over and over again she tried to express her elation, relief and gratitude. She said it best: "I jumped off a cliff and now I am flying!" She wants her children to live without fear and to grow up to be strong and courageous - just like their mom.
The Big Day of Giving is an opportunity to support people in our community who are struggling and have often lost hope. When they can barely stand, our dedicated volunteers help them learn to walk again.