Stories of survival and recovery

These are the stories of some of the thousands of persons who have accessed the services of Help & Shelter over the years. The names have been changed to preserve confidentiality. Please click on the name of the person/title to see the full story

Daisy & Mandy

In early 2010, Daisy called Help & Shelter on behalf of her daughter Mandy, who was in an abusive
relationship. Daisy persuaded Mandy to come to Help & Shelter for counseling.

Keisha

14 year old Keisha began to skip school in 2009. When Keisha’s mother found out, she beat her and
Keisha ran away. When Keisha’s mother found her, she contacted children’s services, who told her that

Jonathan

In May 2011, 25 year old Jonathan was referred to Help & Shelter by his doctor for counselling as he was
depressed due to the death of his father.

Brenda

Brenda visited Help & Shelter September 2010 because she was very unhappy in her marriage. She was living with her husband Patrick and his other ‘wife’ Geena. Brenda had experienced constant confrontations with Geena from the beginning of her relationship with Patrick.

Vanessa

20 year old Vanessa met Leon (not their real names) when she was 15 and went to live with him despite her mother's objections. Two years later she became pregnant with their child (a daughter). The relationship was very abusive but Vanessa kept the abuse a secret from her family.