October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and as such, we are compelled to take this opportunity to share one of the MANY incredible stories that SPCC staff have had the privilege to bear witness to. In our work with children and their parents who have survived abusive relationships, we continue to be humbled by the strength and resolve demonstrated by so many.

Mary was a victim of domestic violence, and her story is a tale of survival. Mary’s controlling and abusive partner attacked her in front of her young daughters, forcing them to care for their battered mother for a period of time while she was incapacitated. Her partner manipulated and threatened the family into secrecy, and was only arrested and convicted after Mary’s multiple trips to the hospital with serious injuries made medical staff suspicious of the family’s cover-up story. Though Mary and her children were in a compromised physical and emotional state when they began working with SPCC’s Family Trauma Intervention Program, their counselor was able to see and identify their inner strengths. Through a great deal of intensive counseling work, Mary and her daughters are now on the road to recovery. Mary is now intimately connected to that inner strength that her counselor once identified in her, and she feels capable of protecting her young daughters in ways that the family never dreamed imaginable. Mary’s new revelation is that she wants to share her story with others so that people may learn from her healing journey.
*If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, please contact our local domestic violence hotline at: (585) 232-7353. Trained counselors are available 24/7 to provide support and direction for getting the help needed.