Through the Doors of Jenesse Center Walk Courageous Women
Over five hundred women per
year enter the doors of the Jenesse Center 30-day
Emergency Shelter program through the Jenesse Center
Intake office. Some call the 24-hour hotline and
make next day appointments. Many are dropped off by
family members who wait anxiously for them to be
admitted into the program before leaving with
saddened eyes with hope that the woman will get the
help she so desperately needs. The local law
enforcement officer in the middle of the night
knocks at the doors with mothers with children. Many
enter the program with “heads bloody but unbowed.”
The courageous steps these women take to save their
lives or the lives of their children by leaving an
abusive home is documented here. It shows the spirit
and the heart of women who dare to leave and dare to
fly to a better, secure and safer place with a new
life ahead.
Debra* was critically injured
and recovering from multiple stab wounds inflicted
by her abuser upon arriving at the Jenesse Center
Intake department. A drug user and former prostitute
with a criminal record who had lost custody of two
children she had a strong desire to create a stable
home life with them.
Debra’s Case Management treatment plan, included
Domestic Violence Prevention Education, mental
health, individual and group counseling, substance
abuse counseling and legal services.
Through the help of the Legal Services department
she was able to obtain custody of her children and
bring them to live with her in the Transitional
apartment. After six months of services she was
excited to secure a job and stated “This was the
first time in my life I was able to obtain and
sustain” legal employment.”
The judge in her criminal case has expunged her
record because Debra had lived in the Jenesse
transitional for more than a year and had continued
to improve with the services offered. He was a
witness to her renewal and growth.
Two years ago Carol* mother of five children came to
the Intake office in need of supportive services
because of the mental, physical, emotional and
financial abuse she and her children endured for
years from her husband.
Carol was a Marine reservist with a graduate degree
who had been granted military leave because of her
transition into a shelter program and the need for
immediate safety and mental health services for
herself and her children.
With emotional issues and uncertainties about the
fate of her children Carol was left with little hope
and a great deal of fear. She cried daily for
reasons she could not always articulate which
questioned her ability to prove child abuse
allegations and other noted offenses during legal
appointments.
After a shaky beginning the family moved into a
three bedroom transitional apartment in September
2002 and began individual, family and group
counseling. The family joined a local church Jenesse
partner collaborative that offered weekly afternoon
tutoring and family mentoring program.
Working with the Jenesse team of legal professionals
to assist her in preparing a legal defense for
custody gave Carol new confidence to face her abuser
in court during many hearings.
Carol was called back to the military for active
duty on September 6, 2004 and given one month to
“wrap” up her affairs and before reporting to duty.
During her two-year stay at
Jenesse Center, Carol had established a
self-sufficiency plan that included life and
survival as a single mother outside of Jenesse. With
the countless hours of counseling and comprehensive
programming, she appears confident and willing to
face any situation.
A week before Carol was to report to duty she was
awarded physical custody of her children by the
Courts and was able to take them to live with her
sister out of state.
On a recent deployment interview with Channel 7 News
the reporter asked if she would like to say anything
to her children, if they happened to be watching.
With authority and confidence she addressed her
children through the camera directly and said, “Be
good, keep up with your studies and take care of
each other.”
Needing shelter from a same sex relationship that
was violent from its beginning, Barbara* came to
Jenesse Center 30-Day Emergency Shelter, a year ago.
Low self esteem, depression and unable to enter the
workforce because of her mental health prevented
Barbara from providing for her self.
An individual treatment plan was developed by the
Case Manager and the weekly Team members to include
mental health counseling, vocational services, legal
services, and housing assistance to prepare her to
graduate to Jenesse transitional housing. Barbara
was accepted to UCLA where she needed to complete
her four-year degree.
After months of transitional residency Barbara
secured a part-time job that afforded her the
opportunity of building a savings and acquired her
own apartment. Barbara now has the brightest smile
on her face when she attends drop-in brush up
classes. She said she is the happiest she has ever
been in her life and she would never go back to the
life she’d known before.
What a difference living at Jenesse Center, Inc. has
made in the lives of these three courageous women
and children. We salute them in their new lives and
we salute the Jenesse Center staff that cares for
them daily.
*The names have been changed to protect the sheroes.
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