Valentine's Day

Next week many people will hear from their significant other how much they are loved and how much they are appreciated. This will be shown with flowers, candy and perhaps a romantic dinner out. Of course, I am talking about celebrating Valentine's Day.

This is a wonderful holiday to celebrate with your loved one and to show them how much you care. However, this can be an extremely difficult holiday for those who have been experiencing domestic violence. The presence of flowers can have a different meaning if the only time you ever receive flowers is after a beating. What if the person who professes to love you also beats you? Calls you horrible names? Forces you to do things you don’t want to do?

 For those who are in our shelter and outreach services, we work to make this day special by celebrating our uniqueness and our special value as individuals. We work with clients to accept who they are and to work through where they have been. We help them dig down deep inside and find that person who is special and worthy of love - especially their own self-love.

When you have been a victim of abuse you can lose your love for yourself. You learn to believe the things that were said about you - that you are unlovable and unworthy of anyone’s love, not even your own. For if you were worth something and lovable, then your partner would not have had to beat you, right? (Of course not! The responsibility of the abuse lies with the abuser, not the victim.)

I ask that as you celebrate Valentine's Day next week, you pause and remember the women and children who are in shelter and services at Hope House. They are working hard to recover from their experiences of abuse, hoping to find themselves and to love themselves again.

Knowing that someone reclaimed themselves and found their voice to profess their self worth and their worthiness of love is the best Valentine's Day present I can receive.

(Note: If you'd like to be a part of a Valentine's Day present we're working on for the women in our shelter, please visit our website www.hopehouse.net.)

 

Hope for the Holidays

The holidays are a wonderful time of year for most people and that includes those of us at HH. Often people ask if it is depressing at this time of year to do this work. My response is an overwhelming NO. This time of year is inspiring and uplifting as we see people bursting in their desire to help and the spirit of the holidays shining through.


The holidays are a time for our clients to reconnect with old traditions or to create new ones for their new lives. We are fortunate to have the generous support of the community and to be able to offer our “Holiday Stores” at each of our locations.

This store atmosphere allows clients to participate in the holidays by “shopping” for gifts for their children, and the children for their mothers. The stores are stocked full of new gift items for each to choose that special gift for their loved ones.

We have volunteers who stock the shelves and help the moms and children do their shopping. Then they wrap the special gifts that are chosen. Office, church and school groups do food drives so we can provide food baskets for that special meal for the holiday for those clients who are not staying in shelter.

We are fortunate to be able to help our clients enjoy the holidays and have this time of year be extra special despite the challenges they are facing. Thank you to all of our supporters that allow us to offer this special gift to our clients and to share the spirits of the holidays.