My Nonprofit Reviews

The past two summers, I have backpacked for 3 days in the White Mountains in New Hampshire for a fundraiser called "Wilderness Heals" in support of the Elizabeth Stone House. I would like to share a short story about one of the women who spoke to all of the hikers the morning that we began the three day hike through the White Mountains. This woman is someone who has been helped by the Elizabeth Stone House in the past and is living proof that with encouragement and support, anyone can remove themselves from a domestic abuse situation.

She began her speech with tears (happy ones of course) and spoke of how much the Stone House means to her. She said many things of which I can’t remember word for word but there were three statements that she made that stuck out to me.
“The Elizabeth Stone House was able to provide me with a Christmas present for my son.”
“The Elizabeth Stone House provided me with a bus ticket every day so I could get back and forth to work.”
These two statements show that the women who come to the Stone House are just looking for some kind of normalcy after being in violent situations for so long. They want their children to look back and have happy memories of their childhood instead of violent ones. They are not looking for a handout so that they can just sit around and do nothing; they want to better the lives of themselves and their children.
The last statement the woman made is something that will stay with me forever and brings tears to my eyes as I think about it. I’ve never heard anyone say this so simply yet so powerfully:
“There are those who need help and those who can help”
I believe it’s true for everyone; at times we may need help and other times we have the means and can help.
The Elizabeth Stone House is the ONLY OPTION for many of these women and children. There is no place else to go. Organizations like these are shutting down left and right due to budget cuts. The Stone House is one of the last of its kind in the area.

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