Susan came to House of Ruth straight from a crisis situation. Her husband of seven years had been battering her regularly for the last years of their relationship. One night late last year, he exploded because she had used up all of the shampoo. She came home to find her bedroom smashed up and when she entered the room, her batterer began to beat her as well. The incident was so loud and violent that neighbors called the police. When the police arrived, they refused to arrest him because she had no visible bruises (Susan is Latina – she has dark skin and like many women, especially women of color, her bruises did not show until the next day.). Regardless of the ambivalence of the responding officer, Susan begged them to take her with them, as she was sure her batterer would kill her when they left.

Susan arrived at House of Ruth with nothing but the clothes on her back. We first helped her get clothing and personal items, then worked on helping her regain her composure after the traumatic incident she had been through. She attended groups, participated in counseling, and spent lots of time planning and strategizing with her case manager.

Susan had a host of strengths and resources that enabled her to survive. She had a good job. Early in her stay we supported her as she called her manager to request a leave of absence. Later, after we had helped her secure a restraining order, her case manager wrote a letter on her behalf to advocate for her with her employer. They were extremely helpful in making plans to ensure Susan’s safety. Security personnel escorted her to her car at the end of her workday and several key coworkers knew of her situation in case there was a problem.

With the help of her case manager, Susan did other things to ensure her safety. While in shelter, she sold her car and bought another with the money and a little of her savings so her batterer would not recognize her if he were looking for her. She requested a police escort to go with her to her apartment to get some of her belongings and take her name off the lease. Along with her case manager, Susan developed a safety plan for use while in shelter and after she left. Together, they identified unsafe areas that Susan would need to avoid and talked about other security measures to take both when she was out and when she was in her own home. The final task for Susan was to find safe housing. She rented a room from a friend as her short-term plan, intending to rent an apartment as soon as she had a little more stability.

One of the most exciting things Susan decided while she was here was that she was going to pursue her dream of being an interior designer. Her earlier work was a step in that direction but she had been held back by her situation at home. After being given information and encouragement by her case manager, Susan had decided to enroll in design school at a local university beginning in the Spring of that year.