by Casa de Esperanza

January 6, 2016

When I was going to do outreach at the Mehal Plaza, I met a lady suffering from domestic violence, who was totally unknown of Casa de Esperanza. Learning from me about Casa de Esperanza services, she seeks shelter within our organization and stayed in our shelter. While in shelter, our staff listened to her, helped prepared her case and helped her get a domestic violence order with child custody. The victim was able to filed and get a divorce from her cruel husband, who had made her life extremely miserable.

The victim had language barrier, which had no knowledge of the English language, is now living a happy life. She is thankful for Casa de Esperanza, and for the outreach, that she was able to become aware of her rights. She was able to gain the confidence and courage to face the stark realities of her life. She was able to find the right path leading to a happy and contented life. She is currently my ongoing outside client for counseling. She is also helping other women in the Indian community to understand their rights. I am proud of her. I am still continuing with my outreach efforts into the Indian community. I’m currently outreaching at the Sutter County Library Literacy Group and will start up at the Mehal Plaza again. Creating changes and informing victims/women in the Indian community is difficult, due to domestic violence being view as normal and not talk about. Victims feel ashamed about speaking up about their abuses.

Our goal at Casa de Esperanza is to continue with the outreach into the community. We want to continue to educate the victims and make them understand their rights. We have learned that changes come from providing education into the community and gaining the supports of staff and survivors into the community.