Patrick’s Story
Patrick is a first grade student at Ekstrand Elementary in DeWitt. When Patrick began participating in the AmeriCorps Reading Program in October he was accurately decoding 34 nonsense words. As of February 15th he had progressed to accurately decoding 87 nonsense words. That is an amazing gain of 53 words! Ms. King, Patrick’s AmeriCorps tutor, says the following in regards to his progress, “Patrick’s confidence has grown tremendously! He comes to tutoring ready to work and he puts in the extra effort and works at home. Whenever he gets a new library book he likes to bring it in and show me what he is reading.” This is just one specific example of students not only making gains in the area of literacy but also building positive relationships with Ms. King.
Parents on Reading Corps:
"My son has really benefited from attending his Reading Corp instruction. We have seen improvements in his confidence when reading, strategiesused to figure out unknown words, his accuracy and fluency. He is making improvements in the classroom and is beginning to love reading. He reads everything wherever we go (signs, notes, magazines, books, etc.)"
-Ashley Krienbrink, parent of 1st Grader
Becky's Story:
Becky was married to her abusive and controlling husband for 30 years. During that time her husband whittled away at her self-esteem and self-worth. He would insult her, make her doubt her own experiences and knowledge and convinced her that she could not survivor without him there to take care of her. She was not allowed to work during the 30 years of marriage. He would frequently threaten her with violence and many time followed through on his threats.
By chance Becky reconnected with a very good friend who lives that she had lost touch with on social media. Her friend was from Clinton County. Her friend was as supportive and believed Becky when she shared her story.
When Becky was ready to leave she was able to flee from northern Illinois to Clinton County and her friend’s family took Becky and her three children in. It was at that time her friend connected her to the SafePath Domestic Abuse program. She worked with the legal advocate to pursue and Order of Protection to ensure that she and her children would able to remain safe and received financial assistance to in order to move into her own apartment.
Becky was also connected with the counselor and received counseling services for herself and her two youngest children. Since coming to Iowa and working with SafePath, Becky has been able to graduate from college with an associate’s degree and has begun her career in the field of her degree.
Through counseling services, the client has been able to process past events, work to build her self-esteem, and explore coping strategies. She and her children have been able to receive support, validation, and begin the healing process. And with SafePath Adopt a Family program, the survivor stated that she and her children were able to have their first Christmas, something they always wanted, and have been able to begin creating new traditions.
Her advocate and counselor were able to help her and her children to meet their needs for a sense of physical and emotional safety. They helped her family have basic household items, connected them with community resources, and helped them to continue on their journey of healing from years of domestic violence.
A Mother's Story:
I am a mother to a teenage girl and guardian of a one year old grand-daughter. Back in January 2016, my children and I received services from Family Resources’ SafePath program. The resources provided to me during this time were extremely helpful to me and my family. Without their help, I don’t believe that I would have been able to leave the violent relationship that I was in and move forward with my life.
For the last ten years, I had been living in a verbally and physically abusive relationship with a man that controlled my every move. Unable to work due to my chronic health condition, I was afraid to leave the relationship for fear that my children and I would have no place to go. The abuse that was occurring in the home started to have a negative impact on my grand-daughter as well. I had left the relationship before, but always returned because I didn’t believe that I could take care of myself. However, things started to look better for me and my family after I contacted SafePath seeking emergency shelter. I was quickly placed in a safe location and began working with the housing advocate. I also received food, personal, and baby items to meet our needs. The housing advocate and I also discussed my housing needs, and the steps I would need to take to accomplish my housing goal. After I determined that temporarily relocating with family would be the best option for me and my family, I worked with my advocate to make arrangements to safely remove all my belongings from my previous residence. For the first time in years I began to plan for my future, and started to believe in myself again.
Working with Family Resources SafePath program, I was given support, information and resources. I now know that I don’t have to do this alone, and there are programs out there that will continue to assist me in my journey. While I am still living with relatives and 2-3 months away from saving enough to secure my own place, I have improved on my budgeting skills and continue to seek employment to help with my fixed income. By the end of the year, I hope to have found a safe home for me and my children, as well as part-time work.
Parents at the YWCA:
The staff and teachers are like family to my girls. They are funny and kind and smart and respectful and kind. My children absolutely love them and have flourished, all thanks to the amazing teachers! They took the time to get to know them and love them as if they were their own. I have popped in at different times of day and they are always happy and cared for. I highly recommend the YWCA Children’s Center to everyone! I trust them completely with my children. They are always accommodating and flexible