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Abused woman needs assistance.

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A friend is in an abusive relationship. I knew there were some issues but I didn't know how bad until we recently reconnected. I had originally written about her situation here, but I think it's best if you read it in her own words.

I'm in an abusive relationship. And I know, your first thought it going to tell me to just leave. That's what everyone says. But it doesn't work like that. I have no car. I have nowhere else to go. I have my dog, trained to deal with my medical needs. So I can't just leave her and he has said that if I did, he'd take her to the pound. Most of the furniture in this house is mine. If I "just leave" I lose that too. Much of it is antique and of great sentimental value to me. If I "just leave" I will have nothing. People wonder why abused women don't just pick up and leave and I get so frustrated when people tell me to do that. It's not a magical fix. And many of the women who do "just leave" end up in worse situations. Or dead because the man found them and was angry that they had left.
He did this slowly. It wasn't always this way. And it was so slowly that at first I didn't even see it. First it was that I was working too much. He wanted me to be a stay at home wife. So I agreed to that. I'd been working since I was a teenager and getting to stay at home and just do the mom thing sounded amazing. Then he started to complain about my long phone conversations with my friends. I had to cut off all contact with any male friends and even female friends, he started interrupting my calls. He needed me for something, he wanted to spend time with me... My friends stopped calling and they all gradually fell away.
He stopped making the payments on my car so then I had no vehicle of my own and since he works odd hours, I am limited when it comes to using the one vehicle that we do have. He has GPS on my phone and tracks where I am on the rare occasions he lets me even leave the house alone. And then, it's to run errands or get groceries. He tracks where I am the whole time and times how long it takes me.
I have a small part time job. And my hours are not even what would qualify as part time. Right now he sees it as a little hobby. But who knows when that might change and he'll make me quit.
I go weeks without being able to leave the house. He watches my FB posts and comments obsessively and he asks for explanations of who someone is if he doesn't recognize their name. He goes through my laundry looking for signs of other men.
Before him, I had a great life. And I thought that being with him was going to make it even better.
I've tried to make him happy but nothing I do seems right. One day he's all fun and sunshine and affection and the next he's nasty and hateful and cruel. And it's tearing me apart.

I have a plan and I know what I need to do to accomplish it. 
1. A reliable vehicle. I'm estimating $7-10,000 for that. 
2. Movers to take my things out of the house. The estimate was $2-3,000 because I plan to move out of state so that I am far away.
3. One years rent and deposits

I have friends who can help me find a job once I leave.

I'm suffocating. I get up in the morning and count how many hours until I can go back to bed. This is no way to live. This is not a life for anyone.

And if you have friends who seem to be in a relationship like mine, refuse to be pushed away and out of their lives. They need you more than you know.

I know this is a lot. And that my goal seems like a lot. I have budgeted it down to the last dollar. If you find it in your heart to share this or even make a small donation, thank you.

Organizer

Karen Martin
Organizer
Chapel Hill, NC

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