Susan had known for years that she needed to get out of her abusive marriage, but she didn't know how to do it. It was mostly emotional and mental abuse until it turned violent enough toward the end that police showed up after one argument, and that brought in Child Protective Services.
Susan is not her real name. We've changed it to protect her privacy and safety. She's a client in the Open Arms program of Community Enrichment Center, a faith-based organization that started in 1988 as a ministry of The Hills Church of Christ that offered groceries to low-income individuals and families. That's still a core mission of the CEC, but it has expanded its scope greatly in the intervening years.
"People are mostly scared of CPS," says Susan. "I embrace them. They saved me. They got me out of there, and I was able to walk away." She had two children at the time and was pregnant with a third.
She initially went to Safe Haven, a shelter for abused women and their children, and Safe Haven referred her on to Open Arms for more permanent shelter and programs.
"I admire the women that we serve," says Lou Ann Pressler, Open Arms Program Director. "I respect their motivation to survive and start over. Many women leave to protect their children, and that nobility inspires me to help."
In 2006, the CEC merged with the Open Arms Home Inc., a non-profit formed in 1988 to offer long-term transitional housing and services to victims of domestic violence and their children.
"When they came into our lives, I realized how serious this was," Susan said. "If I was not willing to leave, they were going to take my children. I just never had the nerve to do that before. It's sad that somebody had to put that threat in my face for that to happen, but then I realized that what I'm doing to myself and my children is just crazy."
She got her GED in May, has a job that supports her and lives in a three-bedroom apartment with her children and has full custody of them. She's ready to graduate from the Open Arms program and live on her own.
