Stories of survival and recovery

Julea came to Georgetown, from interior at a young age, gotten married and started having children. She never had the opportunity to go back to school, learn a skill or seek employment.

Mark, a teenager, visited Help & Shelter in 2010 to report that his father John was very abusive to his mother, his siblings and him. He said that his mother was unable to visit Help & Shelter because she was not allowed to leave the house.

Sandra, a 37 year old woman, came to Help & Shelter for counselling in October 2010. She had three children, two of them for Rick, her abusive partner. Sandra had been abused for 14 years; she was very depressed and had visible marks of abuse about her body.

Abby married Mark in 1995 and had three sons.

When Abby and Mark were first married they lived with her husband's relatives, who were verbally and emotionally abusive towards her.

A student robbed and threatened at gunpoint was very fearful, unable to sleep, eat or go about her daily activities without feeling as though she will be attacked by the same person again. She was counselled on symptoms of trauma and ways of coping after experiencing such a traumatic event.