“My life and stability were up in the air.”

“I was scared and trying to leave this relationship, trying to get my ducks in a row.”

A childhood friend recommended she reach out to ask for our support. Chelsea was pregnant when she and her two-year-old arrived at the emergency shelter.

“I would spend hours walking back and forth on the front porch with him in the stroller. I couldn’t get him to sleep and didn’t want to disturb anyone else.”

Those first few weeks living at the shelter weren’t easy. “I was hyper-focusing and overthinking everything. It was really hard on me, being pregnant. My life and stability were up in the air.”

She stayed busy on purpose. “I was meeting with my advocates, doing therapy, or doing groups. We would talk about boundaries and red flags, green flags, even yellow flags.”

During one group activity, Chelsea remembers writing a note to her younger self and a note to the abuser to burn in the fire pit.

“We talked about boundaries and coping techniques. I always did the mommy and me groups. We did pottery and yoga under the pavilion.”

Although put on bed rest during the final weeks of her pregnancy, Chelsea was able to move into a transitional apartment with her son before the baby was born.

“I was in a different elementary school each grade of the year, so stability was always a real big thing for me. When I had kids, I knew that I needed stability because I never had it.”

When asked what she would tell someone coming into shelter, Chelsea said, “You’re here to heal. If you come with that mindset, you’re going to feel like a totally different person. But remember not everybody is going to understand what you went through, so not everybody deserves your story.”

This is only part of Chelsea’s story, in her own words, shared with permission.