Can You Find a Way to Help!

I’m going to tell you the story of “Mary.” Mary could be a client at the YWCA. She is a young mother struggling to go to school, work, and take care of her kids. She wants more than anything to make a break the cycle of poverty that has gripped her family for generations. Since she doesn’t have her GED yet, she can not get a good paying job so she is living with her boyfriend, the father of her youngest daughter. She has three children (4, 3, and 1) and she just told her boyfriend that she thinks she is pregnant again. He gets angry and calls her a whore and says he can’t afford anymore kids. He says he already pays enough in child support and that he will leave her if she doesn’t have an Abortion. He pushes her towards the stairs, but luckily she grabs the stair railing to avoid falling down the stairs onto the floor below. Unsatisfied and still angry, he grabs her hair and pulls her into their room and smashes her head into the mirror. Her oldest daughter walks into the room to see what happened and the door is shut in her face. This young mother’s first instinct is to protect her children, so she tries to leave the room, but he won’t let her. She sits cowering in the corner of the room afraid to make a sound, so she doesn’t make him angry again. She sits there thinking to herself that she can’t afford to live on her own and she has nowhere else to turn, so she begs him for forgiveness. She is crying, scared, and bleeding, but what other choice does she have but to stay? In a few days, he will apologize and life will get back to “normal”…at least until she does something “wrong” again.


This women is made up, but this story plays out in different ways all over Michiana and I think it’s time we found an end domestic violence. How does that happen? It happens when we raise awareness that the issue exists in all households, in all demographics, in all races, and yes…it happens to men as well. The YWCA is in the business of helping women and their children escape and find a safe place to stay while they attend classes, find a better job, and get the counseling that they need. The YWCA is working to break the cycle of poverty by offering the clients life skills classes where they can learn things such as job interviewing skills, resume writing, parenting skills, CPR/First Aid, financial management, and so much more.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month!  I think a great way to start the month is to make the YWCA's Walk a Mile in her Shoes a great event.

Join men throughout Michiana in the effort to raise awareness & money for the YWCA's Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault programs.
Go to www.ywcancin.org and donate to the cause or join the team of walkers.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
9 am check in begins
10 am walk begins
Coveleski Stadium