Support Anthony's Journey to a Safe Home

Hi everyone, my name is Anthony, and I have very recently been exposed to a bout of domestic violence in my household.

I live with my dad and his girlfriend inside our old family house. Financially, none of us are too well off, but we all survive. My dad is unemployed, leading to some frustrated arguments from his girlfriend to try and get him to get out of the house and find work so he can help her with some of the expenses that come with the cost of living. Normally, there are a lot of domestic disputes where I’m from, where my dad and his girlfriend get into biweekly shouting matches, calling each other slurs and hateful names over the smallest inconveniences. This is very commonly caused by the two of them refusing to de-escalate a situation due to poor problem solving skills and a severe lack of self control from both of them being substance abusers. All of this has come to an head in another overblown argument where my dad’s girlfriend struck my dad with a closed fist on the arm. She didn’t draw any blood, she didn’t break any bones, just struck him hard enough to exclaim “Ow! She hit me!”, assuming that I would hear it. I had asked my dad what had happened after that and he said it was “nothing, don’t worry about it.” I even asked his girlfriend why she hit him and she said it was because she was “tired of his sh*t and that he needs to get off his damn ass and get a f*cking job.” No accountability from either of them and neither one had acknowledged the situation. They somehow seemed to move on like of them hadn’t just physically ASSAULTED someone over an inane petty squabble.

I had told my dad that I would call the police to report claims of a domestic violence report to the local authorities, and he proceeded to be upset at me for even suggesting such a thing. It was at this moment that I felt that nothing I did could help these two with their own personal problems, and I felt that no authority could truly help them recover themselves, so I decided to make a plan to leave. This is where I’ve hit a bit of a problem though.

I had originally made plans to move out later next year with a friend of mine, but due to these events, I no longer feel comfortable waiting for a year or more to leave my old family home. I am no longer comfortable biding my time to find somewhere where I don’t have to hear people’s screams echoing in my ears. I have to take action as soon as I can. So I’d like to ask for the support of everyone, that I might find a better place to stay before the end of the year.

I come from a very poor family, where both my parents are unemployed and have a total household income of less than $20k a year. My mom has a variety of mental and physical illnesses that keep her from being able to take care of anyone else, and my dad is an alcoholic schizophrenic. Both my parents depend on assistance programs to keep themselves afloat, and help from the rest of my family is hard to come by, as we all live very far apart and in very modest means. This means it’s up to me to find a new place that can hopefully keep myself safe.

Currently, I’m looking at a nearby bedroom worth about $2k with a security deposit, and I’ve requested that the owner hold the place till the end of November. I figure $3k would be enough to get my way out and assist with any expenses tied to moving out (moving trucks, replacing groceries, emergency transportation, etc.). Any donations are welcome, but the primary resource I’d like to have is our communication. Just spreading awareness of a situation like this is more than enough for me, since nobody deserves to go through the broken homes and horrible abuse I’ve been through. All I want is the same as anybody else; an opportunity to put food on the table and not have to worry about anything else.

Thank you again for your time everyone, and much love,

-Anthony