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

Savitri

Savitri had been in an abusive (physical, emotional, sexual & financial) relationship for 9 years when she came to Help & Shelter in November 2011.
Her partner had locked her out of their home when she left to spend the nights with her mother because of the physical abuse.

Sandy

Sandy was a 36 year old with one son. She lived in an abusive common-law relationship with a man who frequently travelled to and from Canada. They lived in his house.

Amanda

Thirty five year old Amanda attempted suicide because of the domestic violence to which she was subjected by her husband Ryan and was referred to Help & Shelter by a social worker. She received counselling from April to September 2010.

Lisa

Lisa, aged 14, lived with her mother, stepfather and two siblings. In 2008, she called the hotline, having
got the number from a Help & Shelter public education officer who had visited her school to talk about
domestic violence and child abuse.

Joel & Cindy

Cindy, 41, and Joel, 39, were counselled by Help & Shelter from October 2005 to November 2006. Cindy was suffering from domestic violence because of the Joel’s alcohol abuse. In addition to receiving counselling, Joel was referred to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).