I am only a volunteer for these folks, so I'm not sure if my story counts. I have driven over 340 trips, totaling over 37,000 miles for Families to Freedom. Many of the clients who sat beside me in my vehicle were very traumatized or in "survival mode," and I am positive that none of them wanted to be traced down by leaving an email address or other identifying information so that they could tell their own stories to you. Many had nothing but praise for the mere existence of such a service as could give transport to a family experiencing abuse that had no other means to leave. Many would still be in abusive situations without Families to Freedom. Some might be dead. They seem pretty great to me.
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From my perspective of seeing the hurt done to my own daughter from an abusive relationship, I began to seek ways to help others who might be ready to find their freedom. The few shelters that are scattered around cannot begin to help a family that is living in the world of an altered, abusive reality, until they can physically get to safety. Finding such safety can be a difficult thing when all of your money, your self-image, your nerves, your options, and often your personal ties, typically broken to family and friends who resent the abuser’s entry into a loved one’s life, are all gone. I cannot imagine the heartbreak of summoning the inner courage to call your family, or a local shelter, only to hear that there is no place for you right now, or that even if there was, you were on your own to figure out how to get there. Enter Families to Freedom: Working from a small office, sitting behind donated desks, are unpaid, volunteer workers guiding such callers with solid, current contact and availability information of places that perhaps they can go, and offering them a way to get there. As a volunteer driver, I get reimbursed for the gasoline receipts I turn in. That is where donated money goes – for gas, for gas cards, for bus tickets, for overnight stays at low rent hotels and inexpensive meals if the drive we need to make back to family is across the country. Sometimes we use the “company” van to haul a family. The director gets no salary for her time. Your money goes only one place: to help families to freedom.
He came home drunk again! He started cursing and threatening his wife first for asking where he’d been. Then he turned on the kids and they were frightened out of their minds. They were afraid of him and his temper. No one knew what would happen. FEAR.
She called the police and they came out to try to restore order, but since he didn’t actually hit her, this time, they didn’t arrest him. She slept in fear all night not knowing what would set him off.
“This is it”, “I have to get away or we may be hurt the next time” . This has gone on for years and he has promised he would change, but he hasn’t.
She has decided to get to someplace safe and get away for good to family far away. How does this happen? She has no money, car, or job. He has made these things impossible with his demands.
She calls 6 local shelters and is told that they are full and to call somebody else. One of the shelters referrs her to Families to Freedom. She calls them and is given a list of shelters that are farther away and may have space. Normally, she would not be able to get to these shelters as they are so far out, but Families to Freedom will take her to that shelter, if they have space.
She finds a shelter and coordinates with a volunteer driver from Families to Freedom to get to safety! Once there, she may work out a long term plan to move to another area in Texas or the United States. Again, Families to Freedom is there to help her and her children to be on their way to a new life.
This scenario is repeated again and again in too many households throughout the United States. Over one woman in four will be subjected to domestic abuse at some time in their life. The kids growning up in abusive homes will become future abusers and abused! Domestic abuse is a major factor in female homicides as well as mass shootings.
One person had the vision to break this cycle with a simple, but not easy, solution. Take the victims far away to start a new life without having to live in fear every day. Sarah Nejdl, the Founder and Executive Director of Families to Freedom had that vision and has implemented it effectively for nearly 5 years. I joined as a volunteer driver, because I, too, can see the impact made on people by this simple solution. The look of thanks from the clients and their children and the knowledge that they are out from under an oppressive situation is my reward.
I love the entire concept of Families to Freedom; its time has come! I would PAY to be volunteering, for the joy it gives me. Being able to have such an impact on families so desperately in need of help is unbelievably fulfilling, particularly as I get a bit older. Understanding the effect my efforts are having on so many people, I feel buoyed and happy and look forward to my volunteering time every single week. And Sarah’s monthly newsletters share what’s happening on the other side of this project – how many trips are taken, how many families are helped—men, women, children, and yes, even beloved family pets!—in the preceding month, as well as, in their own words, how these families feel about this program and how it has afforded them safe escape from a dangerous situation.
When you help us, you are helping countless families and, just as importantly, helping yourself to flourish.