Advocating for Victims of
Domestic and Sexual Violence
Success Stories
ALL NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT OUR CLIENT’S IDENTITY
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A WCH advocate presented at a high school in Kenosha about sexual assault and domestic violence. A week later, a 15-year-old teen girl reported being sexually assaulted by her father for many years. She was afraid to report but finally came forward. The father was the main and only financial supporter of the family. WCH has been helping the teen girl and her family with support, food boxes, clothing, school supplies, and Christmas presents. WCH also assisted with the criminal case and the perpetrator was sentenced to 40 years in prison. The young teen is no longer being abused sexually by her father.
Lisa came to WCH for help with a restraining order. A school intern had sexually abused her now 17-year-old daughter. The abuse started when her daughter was 14 ½. WCH was able to help Lisa secure a restraining order for her daughter Britany, WCH advocates accompanied the family to court, met with Lisa and Britany numerous times, assisted Lisa with Crime Victim’s Compensation and helped Lisa and Britany connect with a therapist.
WCH advocates also worked with Britany’s Dad, Ron. Ron was feeling really angry about the abuse and feeling like he’d been unable to protect his daughter. WCH advocates will continue to be available for the whole family throughout their healing process.
WCH advocate responded to an on-call crisis at Memorial Hospital. The victim was beaten by her boyfriend days prior to her sneaking out of the apartment and seeking medical attention. The hospital confirmed her finger was broken and her shoulder was out of place. WCH advocate is working with her now offering one on one support, food boxes, voucher to Nifty Thrifty store,She stayed at WCH shelter and eventually when she is ready to speak about her abuse she will be attending support group with other survivors.
WCH advocate responded to a crisis call of a 50 year old woman who was raped when she was a child. She called because the trauma of what she experienced as a child still affects her and her relationships today. The perpetrator was her father and she did not speak up because she was afraid of her family’s reaction. WCH advocate focused on her strength as a survivor and the strength it took to call the crisis hotline to speak about her trauma. WCH is working with her offering one on one support,survivors support group, food boxes, and referrals to community resources.
Through the Transitional Living Program, a young woman with a daughter was able to continue her schooling and maintain her part-time job. She is continuing her classes at Gateway Tech in the Nursing Program and was able to take over the lease from the TLP and is living independently.
A young mom of 3 children entered the Transitional Living Program nearly 2 years ago. She recently completed a program for young women hoping to start their own business. She plans to start work as a makeup artist and start her own product line in the future.
A young mom with 2 children entered the Transitional Living Program through shelter, got enrolled in a program for the construction trades. She completed the program and worked all summer driving a truck for a construction crew building roads in Beloit. She decided that kind of work was not for her so she enrolled in the CNA Program, completed the program and is looking for work as a CNA and is enrolling in the Nursing Program at Gateway Tech.
A young woman who is struggling with mental illness has a safe place to stay in the Transitional Living Program while she works to get placement back of her children. She entered the program through shelter. She is working with KHDS and NAMI to receive SSDI for her disability, get stabilized on her medication and work part time.
A young woman entered the Transitional Living Program through shelter with one child and one on the way. She was employed at the time and continues in that employment with an increase in hours. She plans to resume her classes at Gateway Tech and become a beautician.
A mom with 8 children escaped her abusive relationship and entered the TLP. She completed classes at the Job Center and got a work study job that became a full time job. She was able to take over the lease of the house when her time was up and remained there for many years before moving out of state.
A mom with a teenage daughter left her abusive marriage of 20 plus years and entered the Transitional Living Program through shelter. She has many barriers and works a part time seasonal job. She is getting counseling and applying for SSDI with plans to continue her part time work.
Mary, a 25 year old Latino female, started receiving services from WCH in September, 2006. She fled from Texas in June, 2006 as she ran from her suicidal husband. The turning point for Mary was when their daughter witnessed her father cut his wrist then chased her mother with a knife trying to kill her. Mary was married to this man for 15 years. When Mary met with the legal advocate, she was scared, confused and vulnerable. In October, 2006 she filed for a legal separation. When her abuser was served with the paperwork, he tried to start a divorce action in Texas. Since then Mary has been in and out of court fighting for jurisdiction. Mary’s self-confidence and self-esteem has grown significantly since 2006. Through this process she has grown stronger. Mary is now aware of her rights as a woman and a mother. She never gave up and always attended her court hearings regardless of how hard it was for her to re-live the abuse. She won jurisdiction of the case in 2008 and is now in the last phase concerning placement. Her abuser is still trying to manipulate the situation, but she is firm in what she wants. WCH also worked with her and helped her obtain a U-Visa through Catholic Charities. Mary now has legal residency in the USA.
Ashley is a 46 year old woman, who recently left her husband of 26 years. Ashley has endured physical, mental and emotional abuse at the hands of her abuser. She never had access to any money. Her husband did the grocery shopping, brought clothes for her and the children, and put $10 of gas in her car for the week. If Ashley ran out of gas, she and the children would have to walk everywhere. She came to WCH for legal advocacy and the agency helped her complete the initial paperwork to file for divorce. When Ashley learned of our free services she took action, moved out of the house and is now in the process of a divorce. She and the children are undergoing therapy to help them cope with all of the abuse. She now has a full time job as a cashier, and is planning to go back to school.
Candie is a 19 year old girl, who came into our shelter with her one year old son. She left her abuser and his family. They controlled everything she did and did not allow her to leave their house without someone from the family supervising her. She came to this country when she was 3 years old with her mother, who fled from Mexico after witnessing her husband kill another man. They never went back. Candie’s father was abusive to her mother and she has never tried to make contact with him. She does not know where he is living now. When Candie made the decision to leave her abuser she had no money to hire an attorney to file paperwork for a Domestic Abuse Restraining Order or to file for a divorce. Candie is undocumented and as a result she is not able to secure employment in this country. Her abuser could have filed a petition for her to become documented but he chose not to. This was his way to continue to control, scare and manipulate her. With the assistance of the Legal program Candie was able to retain a non-profit legal attorney. They helped her get a divorce and obtain child support from her son’s father. Candie is now going through the VAWA process to obtain her United States legal residency. Candie currently lives in her own apartment and she and her son live in a non-violent environment. Without the funding from Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, WCH would not be able to allocate funds to help Candie and others in similar situations to retain an attorney. This is an extremely important need within the community. Once victims are able to retain an attorney, they are usually able to make payments on a monthly basis.