DV Victim Begins New Life with Housing Assistance and Someone to Listen
Julie had suffered physical and sexual abuse repeatedly at the hands of her ex-husband. “I continued to go back to him because I felt powerless and he was the only person I had.” When he went to prison after being found guilty on charges of domestic violence, OWI and assaulting a police officer, she finally began to move in a new direction with her five children.
Although Julie’s ex-husband didn’t know where the family was living while he was in prison, she feared he would find out. “At that point I was really scared,” she says. “The whole time he was in prison he was trying to make contact with me,” Julie relates. After he was released, the calling continued and he began to threaten to fight for custody of her seven year old daughter.
In April 2011, with her children having nightmares about the possibility of their father finding them, Julie promised them that she would protect them from him and went to court to request a restraining order. “They granted it right then and there because of his history of violence with me,” she says. “In the past I was the stupid one and gave in to him. Not this time.”
After obtaining the restraining order, Julie was encouraged to contact Waypoint. “She said that was my only solution to get away from him and better myself. The day of the restraining order I came to Waypoint and talked to an advocate because I was scared. She provided us with a safe, confidential place to stay and made sure we were okay. She also connected us with the Waypoint Daytime Resource Program that provided us with food, hygiene products, diapers, as well as somewhere to do my laundry. During my counseling appointments at Waypoint, they even provided child care for my children. Waypoint taught me that I’m not alone and I don’t have to be with a man who wants to control me.”
The Housing Advocate at Waypoint also helped Julie see that it would be better for her to live in town and she did everything she could to make that happen quickly. “Within a month of working with Waypoint I had a better place to live,” she says. Through the housing assistance monies Waypoint distributes, they provided temporary housing assistance to help her make the transition.
“They have people here to listen,” Julie says. “Even in the middle of the night you’re not alone, and I have used Waypoint’s 24/7 crisis and support line three or four times. For those of us women that really do want a better life for our children, a little help goes a long way.”
Julie hopes to return to school someday and get a degree in criminal justice, she says, with the goal of changing a system that fails to keep violent abusers in prison.
“I’ve never been one to ask for help,” she says. “Waypoint has been my biggest supporter. They got me a new place and a person to call and talk to when I need it most.”