Our efforts are solely focused on successful outcomes for all of the domestic violence victims and survivors who reach out to us for help. Because of our programs and services, many survivors successfully started budgeting and finding affordable housing to lead a self-sufficient life.
If you feel called to join us in helping individuals and families on their journey to safety and independence, here are some ways you can help.
Bridges Domestic Violence Center is able to make an incredible difference in the lives of those suffering from domestic abuse because of our generous volunteers and donors.
Interested in volunteering? Download and fill out the PDF below and email it to christinep@bridgesdvc.org.
It can be truly empowering and healing for domestic violence survivors to share their stories in a safe and supportive space. We are grateful to these brave individuals who found the courage to speak their truth. Because of you, others suffering in abusive relationships may feel less alone and find the support they need to live a life free of violence.
After an abusive marriage and an equally terrible divorce, I took my children and left everything to move to Tennessee from Indiana for a fresh start. I honestly had no clue what I was going to do once I got here, but I knew I needed to leave for my safety and sanity. Leaving my ex-husband was the hardest and scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
By the grace of God, I found a townhouse and a job pretty quickly, but my kids and I slept on the floor because I couldn’t afford furniture. We ate oatmeal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a good two months. I walked to work in the heat of summer, and my kids stayed at home sometimes with no air conditioning. My ex-husband was furious that we left town and made it his life’s mission to make my life more miserable. He stopped paying child support and started bullying me through court proceedings since he could not easily physically harm me.
The breaking point was when, one afternoon, my engine blew up on I-65 with my five-year-old son with me. I’d been saving my gas for times when I had to take my son, who has special needs, to his doctors’ appointments. I was desperate and suicidal, but I had to keep myself together for my family. During this time, my water service was disconnected and I just couldn’t live with two kids and no water, food, or transportation.
I called every social service organization I could think of, begging for help. The city alderman took me under her wing and gave me the name and number of Bridges Domestic Violence Center.
Bridges gave me tons of ideas, references and words of encouragement.
Now, because of their kindness, my life has done a 180. I have been able to get myself back on track and show my children that random acts of kindness, big or small, can completely change the course of people’s lives.
“Time went on and I’d get hit, grabbed, and thrown against the wall. I was called stupid and retarded, constantly. And even names I cannot say. He was very hateful. I got to a point where I would check the blinds every ten to twenty minutes to see if he was home. I’d call his job to see what time he was expected to be home, so I could have the house ready for his inspection. I lived in a state of fear, not knowing what type of mood he would come home in. The children and I weren’t allowed to talk to him right when he came home because he had a stressful job and he needed to unwind.
The final straw for me was a fight we had where he hit and kicked and hurt me in front of my then seven-year-old son. The fear in my son’s face was awful.
I was told about Bridges.
All of a sudden I had the best support system and friends and people who cared about me that I ever have had.
They talked to me and listened to me, which no one had really done in a long time. They fed and clothed my children and me and were there for every tear. I attended a group once a week where we discussed our problems. We had a psychiatric nurse there on Monday nights for one-on-one counseling. I know if I hadn’t had Bridges I would have gone back to him. I learned to ride the trolley to get to work and the store and got back some of the old me. I actually would laugh and have fun. My children, even though they left everything, were happier and loved the shelter and our new life. Bridges helped me find myself again.”
I was married to a man who did everything in his power to hurt me mentally, financially, physically, and sexually. I was with him for 13 years, and he was a great husband until the last couple of years. He changed.
I educated myself and started a business, and he tried everything to stop me. It seemed the better I did business-wise, the more controlling he became.
He started not paying bills. Withholding sex. Ignoring me. Calling me names. One night, I woke up to him yelling at me at 3:00 am. He had a knife hanging on the bedroom wall, with a 10″ blade. I woke several nights to being hit. He said he was sleeping and didn’t know he was doing it. He scared me.
I stopped sleeping in the room. I found porno books around the house. I asked him many times not to leave them lying around, as I have a six-year-old son, but he did it anyway. So I had to keep checking to make sure nothing was around that my son would get into.
I proceeded into my business, refusing to give up, and he got more ugly daily. It ended after a 911 call to the police when he threatened to smash my office equipment and hurt me.
I got an order of protection and had the police remove him. My divorce was final last year.
I didn’t realize that I was suffering from PTSD until I talked with a friend who is a therapist.
I am dating a good man now. He took me into a jewelry store just to look. I was so stressed out, I wouldn’t look at anything, and stayed back. All I wanted to do is leave.
I didn’t realize I am worried about commitment.
I didn’t understand what was going on, why did I react that way?
I don’t like the feeling I had at all.
Even after this long, the emotional wounds haven’t healed. I am currently in counseling and pray I will return to the person I was before suffering through the abuse.