Winter Newsletter 2022

Holidays Bring Hope: With financial strain, increased time at home, and a wealth of added stress, the holidays are not always full of joy for those experiencing domestic violence.

Elaine, along with her seven children fled her abusive husband, and entered emergency services with Friendship Home. For nearly two decades, Elaine was physically and emotionally abused by her husband. Her focus, however, was always on keeping her children as safe and as happy as possible. Elaine’s instinct was to put her own needs last.

Each holiday season, Friendship Home — with tremendous help from the generosity of community donors — provides gifts to all survivors and their children currently in shelter. Last Christmas, when Elaine’s case manager brought gifts to her door, she was beside herself. While delighted to know her children were going to have the holiday they deserved, what overwhelmed Elaine the most were the packages
that had her name on them.

“She said she had never received a gift in her life,” Elaine’s case manager recalls. “She asked me to watch her open her gifts and take pictures. She had a beautiful smile, full of joy.”

The simple act of receiving a gift allowed Elaine to realize, perhaps for the first time, that she deserved to feel safe, cherished, and loved.

Thanks to you, families like Elaine’s experience hope for a new future, during the holidays and throughout the year.

Read the entire Winter Newsletter