Monthly Story

The other day while on the Crisis line, I had a caller who was trying to find shelter from her abusive husband and a safe place for her and her children. The night before, her husband had verbally abused her in front of the children and then tried to pull the child from her arms, in the process the child’s head snapped back and hit the car door. The boy was left with a big bruise on his fore head. The father continued to yell at the mother. The mother did end up going to her grandmother’s house for safety.  The victim and I talked about her goals, plans, support if she came into shelter, and I provided her with a lot of emotional support. I wrote down her information and let her know I would be returning her call soon.  

While I was staffing the call, the husband came to the home and began to bang on the door. She called law enforcement and then called the Crisis line again. She stated,

“I had to call you back, I didn’t know what to do. My grandmother and my kids are afraid. He’s banging on the door and windows.” 

I stayed on the line with her and explained to her how important it was for her to wait until the police arrived.

TI cannot emphasize the importance of a 24 hour Crisis line for victims to call and receive support and resources. This situation could have turned out much differently if she didn’t have the support from an advocate and the ability to reach someone at any time on the Crisis line.