GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Leaving an abusive relationship isn’t easy, especially when you have children.
Sometimes it can take a community's support to lift a family out of fear.
"I was broken because my abuser took all of that. He told me I wasn’t worth it. I couldn’t do anything for myself. He hit me I was always like scared," said Lucero Morales.
Six years ago Lucero Morales, the mother of two young girls, escaped the grip of her abusive husband.
"I was always like scared of other people. If you talk to this person, I’m going to go after you. This person is watching you, so don’t do anything that you will regret because I will take the kids, and you will never see them again. So it was just like, I didn’t know who to trust," Morales said.
After moving into Golden House domestic abuse shelter, Morales learned she was pregnant with their third child. Feeling trapped, She was referred to the Ecumenical Partnership for Housing in Green Bay.
"They helped me with a home. A full home for me and my two daughters and they had food there they had bedding, they had toys for them. It was like a whole home set up for you to just move in with just my two bags that I had with me," said Morales.
Ecumenical Partnership for Housing (EPH) is a faith-based non-profit that provides housing for families at risk of homelessness in Brown County and is one of this year's recipients of Give Big Green Bay.
"We have 36 homes throughout the GB [Green Bay] area and we place families into them who are unable to find someone to rent to them on their own," says Crystal DeCleene, Executive Director of Ecumenical Partnership for Housing.
Last year EPH provided housing and case management to 63 families, including 177 children.
"Our transitional housing program is completely free. There is no cost to the family," adds DeCleene.
EPH's support in the community doesn't end at housing.
"I started with my two little girls and being pregnant, to help me with working on my GED working on getting a job, working on my self-esteem," says Lucero Morales.
Because Lucero wasn't born in this country she needed a work visa, a driver's license, a job, custody of her children, and to press charges against her abuser. EPH was with her the whole way.
"They did amazing work because I started trusting myself. I can do this, I will be something, I will become something because they were right behind me," she said. "Because of EPH, I came this far. I made it out of that situation. And I’m stronger now, and I can say to him. 'You don’t own me. I can do it myself. Because of them, I’m here. I’m alive and I’m happy."
To learn more about Ecumenical Partnership for Housing click HERE.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 24/7 at 800-799-7233.
