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Annie's Freedom - Making a Home

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Annie's Story 

"Hello, my name is Annie.  Some of the people who I hope will see this know me, some of you may have only recently learned anything about me.  I have been a pretty quiet part of the world up until this point. For the first 25 years of my life, I lived with a very emotionally abusive family.  My family used me and did not allow me to become independent. They made sure I lost every job I was hired for.  They used my anxiety, fear, and depression to keep me in the dark and alone.  I don't want to tell too many stories or dwell on this now. This is supposed to be a positive change in my life, and I choose to look forward as much as possible. But I do want people to understand.....
A couple of years ago I escaped this family, I ran and fast as hard as I could; straight into the arms of an abusive man. At first, it was just emotional, like my family. I struggled a lot during this time. In my darkest hour believing that this was all there was to life and was what I deserved.  Eventually, he became physically abusive to me. That was too much for me. Emotional abuse is hard to muddle through, it makes you believe false truths, but physical abuse is not the same.  I could not make excuses for that. To me, it seemed obvious, glaringly so. So I left.  I had nowhere to go but back to my family. 
It was hard. They made it harder. Treating me worse than before for 'abandoning' them.  But this time I had a plan.
I knew that abusive men can make it hard for you to leave. They can put you in danger by stalking you or becoming angry. So I waited it out. I put my head down and I dealt with the emotional blows my family handed me. I waited for 6 months until I felt safe from him.  I waited until I saw him move on and I decided that probably as safe as I will ever be, it was time to get free of all the abuse and negativity in my life. 
It's been a struggle. Trying to get a job, look at places, get the money together without my family seeing what I am doing.  I've done it though! In the past couple weeks, I have received a job offer. I have reached out to new people and tried to start making new, positive friends.  I've found a place I can move into before I start working so my family won't be involved. I am ready to be free, to start my life and my story. 
But I need help. I need help getting into this small apartment, getting back and forth to work, eating until I get paid. If I want to be successful at my job, and maybe even school (I am considering becoming a counselor), I need help getting started. I really need a hand up.  Some of my friends who live close to me have offered to help me raise the funds to start my life. With their help I can get the money without my family knowing about it. They are even helping me get my own bank account! For now, I am asking for anyone willing to help to please donate here, the money will come to me once it is safe to do so, and I will use it to pay for freedom. It's a beautiful adventure I am starting, please, be a part of it with me!" -Annie Williams

Thank you everyone, for reading Annie's story. I have been trying to help Annie for a while now as she is living near me. I have tried to introduce her to places and people that I think will be supportive of her, and now I am trying to help her take the last few steps she needs.  We've been doing all we can to start raising money to get her settled in her home.  We have an apartment lined up that requires a $700 deposit and first months rent (also $700). We want to make sure she can live for the first month while she starts working so we are trying to raise about $100 for work clothes and household items, $100 for transportation and other necessities as well as $200 for utilities for the first month so she can get settled in. The rest is for fees from Gofundme and the banks. Once we raise the money and she is ready I will be helping her open a bank account as well.  If anyone can help or even share for her, we would appreciate it greatly. Let's change a life today!
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Donations 

  • Joan Troche
    • $85 
    • 7 yrs
  • Shelly Dorn
    • $25 (Offline)
    • 7 yrs
  • K. Match
    • $45 (Offline)
    • 7 yrs
  • Kenneth Heil
    • $40 (Offline)
    • 7 yrs
  • Ashley Jones
    • $100 (Offline)
    • 7 yrs
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Organizer

Stephanie Lassen
Organizer
Colorado Springs, CO

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