|  Ying and Yang by Katrina
One Mother's story...My name is Katrina and I have 2 kids. My son Tommy is 11. He is out going and loves to make people laugh. My daughter Amanda is turning 10 on Sunday. She is smart, artistic, and has a great imagination. My kids are my world. There is nothing that I wouldn’t do for them. A little over a year ago I was in Oregon, had lost my home and was living in my car. I had no place to keep my kids and did not want them sleeping in the car. I let them stay with my ex (their father) for a night. The next day he said I was not allowed to see the kids anymore and he was going to tell a judge that I abandoned them. He said he would shoot me if I fought for custody. The thought of losing my kids made my chest hurt. He had been abusive for so long and finally I wasn’t going to put up with it anymore. I went to the court house, filed for divorce and custody, picked the kids up from school, and left for Bellingham. My family lives here, but I had no idea where I was going to stay. I didn’t want him to find us. After a few days, my mom got us into Women Care. The kids and I stayed in three different shelters before we got into Lydia Place. Compared to some of the places we had been, Lydia Place was so nice. It felt stable and we needed that. But our journey wasn’t over. The court hearings for my divorce started and my stress level was through the roof. The hearings were in Oregon and I lived in Washington. My ex had a lawyer and I couldn’t get legal aid in Washington or Oregon. God knows I tried. I had the help of my mom and my best friend, but in court I stood alone. There were five hearings and the last one took 2 days. With each hearing I became stronger and more sure of myself. With everything his lawyer threw at me, I stood my ground and didn’t back down. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but my kids are so worth it. At the end, the judge said my ex was an abuser. She then granted me custody, child support, and the right to continue living in Washington. I cannot tell you the feeling I had coming out of that court house. I could finally breathe. I finally felt like everything was going to be ok. After five months of living at Lydia Place, I was accepted into the supportive services program and moved into my own apartment. We continued going to in-house group even though we moved out early. My family had so many changes in the last year that I wanted to make their adjustment as smooth as possible. Now, I am still in my apartment, which I absolutely love. My kids each have their own room and are so happy. In December, I got my GED and I’m going to school to make a better life for my kids. Lydia Place was so supportive and helped me achieve so much. I appreciate everything they have done. I want to thank all of you for supporting Lydia Place. And Lydia Place staff, thank you. You helped change my life. 
Lydia Place through a child's eyes... Hi my name is Shelby and I’m 9 years old. I was 7 years old when my mom and I lived at Lydia Place. I liked living at Lydia Place. Living there taught me to be calm. Sometimes when I would get mad at my mom I’d go downstairs to Maryann’s office and would talk to her. At Lydia Place I also did a one on one every week (for an hour) with a special friend named Katelynn. Every Thursday Katelynn and I would go somewhere and we’d walk and talk about my day. We’d talk about any problems I had or bad feelings and she’d make me feel better. Sometimes we’d do art, one time Maryann and I made a special doll out of clay- like me- it was blue. Now I live in an apartment in Bellingham with my mom. I do not feel as safe there as I did at Lydia Place. Sometimes I miss living at Lydia Place because it was fun there and there was always someone to play with or talk to. Some of my favorite memories were the garden, I liked growing things like potatoes, strawberries and watermelons. I also really liked the night we went to the Aquatic Center. At first I was scared to try the big slide there, but once I went down, I couldn’t stop going! It was also at Lydia Place that I first went to Ray of Hope summer camp. At the time, there was a night manager at Lydia Place who was also a camp counselor at Ray of Hope- that was really cool. I’ve gone to Ray of Hope camp every year since living at Lydia Place and look forward to it every summer. I always liked Lydia Place, even from, the first day I came there. I want to thank you all for helping this program, I hope you all have a good life!
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