Mary’s* Story
Mary* had accessed our Domestic & Family Violence Service for emotional support and wanted help with her circumstances, she was not ready to leave her abusive husband just yet, but wanted to know what options she had available once she was ready.
Mary* continued to access the DFV service frequently, she had many fears as to why she didn’t leave. One of the main factors was her financial situation, although Mary was a citizen, her husband is a doctor, so she was not entitled to Centrelink benefits, her husband prohibited her from working to prevent her from having any form of income, which is a form of financial abuse, he would give her an allowance of $50/week.
To help empower Mary* and increase her self-confidence and independence, she accessed free training courses delivered by CORE Community Services.
- Certificate II Retail
- Certificate II Community Service
she was able to develop transferable skills and knowledge towards employment prospective.
After 2 years from the initial meeting, Mary decided she was ready to leave, while her husband. Her husband had left interstate for work, she was nervous, stressed, and anxious about the idea; however, she felt this was her only opportunity she quoted “it’s either now or never”.
Mary’s husband has travelled for work many times, but after a recent incident where her husband tried to keep her and her son stuck in another country, by removing their passports, she felt enough was enough.
Our DFV service tried many avenues to accommodate Mary, the first thing done was to apply for a temporary financial support as it had a long processing period. As her son was 14years old, they would not have been eligible for a women’s refuge – we agreed transitional accommodation would be best suited for her current situation.
After contacting many services, 3 days later, Mary was finally accepted into a transitional accommodation with Linkinghearts. The only issue was her husband was due to return home later on that day. Our DFV service assisted Mary and her son with gathering their belongings from their home. They used Core’s company van to transport the items from Mary’s home to the Transitional accommodation. This required two trips, as there was not enough space for the belongings they wished to take. They managed to make it to the transitional accommodation safely.
Mary now lives in her own property with her son, she is studying to be a trainer and she participates in our DV Support group, where she shares her experience with hopes of empowering more women to take charge of their own lives.
For many people like Mary* escaping is not as simple as packing and leaving.
How to Access Help?
For more information on our services and how we can best support you, please
contact our team on (02) 9727 0477 or email us on info@corecs.org.au
Our services are FREE and highly confidential.
