Battered & Bruised But Not Beaten

I wish to extend hope to someone I love. I made this page to ask for your help - to be that hope with me and to extend your hand to someone in need. She and her children are living in a home of domestic abuse and are still currently trapped. Domestic abuse diminishes your self-worth and your drive; breeding fear, isolation, and shame.

Many suffer in desperate silence without knowing how to escape. She has finally broken her silence and gathered enough courage to ask for help.

He has controlled and mismanaged all the family finances for years. She has no resources to gain her and her children's freedom.

I am attempting to raise enough money to get her to safety: move to a safe place away from her abuser, and enough for basic expenses for her and her children for 3 months. With the basic needs fulfilled, she can focus on healing for her and her children. As this situation is still actively occurring, I can’t share a picture or even their names for fear of their safety. But if you knew them, you would love them. Some of you may know them already.

If you know someone like them or are someone like them, please break your silence and with it the bonds that shackle you. 88788

I've provided more disclosures at the bottom of this page to explain how she will get the money and how it will be kept out of his hands.

My gift to you, for the generosity of your time to read this and donation if you choose to give, is this poem I wrote to help tell her story.

Lure me down

With the darkest deceit

The promise of love

Never to keep

Now in the depths

You deliver your pain

Spewing words of disgust

Glaring with disdain

Remove me from family

And trusted friend’s arms

Building walls of isolation

No way to raise alarms

With a flick or a swing

You land another blow

Condemning and caging

To the prison below

But right before bottom

You stretch out your hand

Shining light through the blackness

Like an angel to the damned

The cycle begins again

Every day that I rise

Speaking words sweet as honey

Ending with bruises and lies

Written 24Jan24

Disclosures:

The picture above is a beautiful creation by Ewa Szczepanik https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abuse_Survivor_Unity_Flag.png

This is a GoFundMe Beneficiary page. The money received will go to the beneficiary through a bank account I set up for her without his knowledge. He controls her phone and watches her browsing history. GoFundMe requires Her social security number and account information to set up the page and transfer. Everything must be verified to prevent fraud. My hope is that this will provide assurances that this is a real family that needs any help they can get to escape their situation.

I set up her and my GoFundMe accounts with a pseudo name for her protection. But since I am the person sending out the request, I hope you would trust in my integrity and know I would never deceive anyone on any matter, especially one of such importance. If you do pass this along to others, please say this is from someone you know and do not use my true name. The trust you have with others will let them know this is not fake. Her and her children’s safety is the most important thing, and I just can't run the risk of letting this get back to him.

It takes all my energy and will power to stop myself from inflicting pain upon the man that has done so much to damage someone I love. To look him in the face and act like I know nothing is nearly impossible. One day soon, she will be out of his reach, and legal action will be possible.