Lit Up with Joy: Ginny’s DV Survivor Story
July 24th, 2024
By Savannah Verdon, Development Manager
Though she was finally able to escape the abuse, Ginny’s* relief was incomplete: She hadn’t been able to bring her young cat Joey* with her. Safe in the domestic violence shelter, she worked out a plan with a friend to check in on Joey back at the house. It wasn’t long before the friend noticed Ginny’s boy was being neglected. He wasn’t being fed and his water bowl had gone dry. Meanwhile, he was being left outside in the summer heat.
Ginny wasn’t surprised to learn the abuser had broken his promise to care for her kitten, but she was deeply hurt that Joey was paying the price. In the end, she had to be accompanied by the shelter staff and police to get Joey out of the house safely.
While Joey would now get the care and attention he needed, it wouldn’t be directly from Ginny just yet. The domestic violence shelter didn’t allow pets and he would need to be boarded. That was no problem with a RedRover Relief Safe Escape grant, but it was hard on Ginny to be away from him. She was all the more determined to find a pet-friendly apartment so they could be together again soon. She already had a note from her doctor recognizing Joey as an emotional support animal, and now that they were both safe, she had the time to save money and find the perfect place for their next chapter.
At last she found an apartment where they were both welcome. Her shelter advocate went with Ginny to pick Joey up from the boarding facility, and later shared with us that “her face lit up with joy at seeing him and she was so glad to be able to take him to their new home with her.”
It’s what we hope for for every survivor with a Safe Escape grant. Thank you for helping us change the lives of survivors like Ginny by making a better future posible for her and little Joey!
*Names have been changed to protect privacy
P.S. The RedRover Relief Safe Escape grant program is always in need of your compassion as more survivors depend on us and the cost of an individual grant continues to rise. If you want to protect more families like Ginny and Joey, please consider making a Safe Escape possible for every survivor with a generous gift today.
