Survivor Spotlight: Naomi’s Story

Naomi had entered her marriage with two children, one who has autism. The family has recently just made the move to RI from another state. She felt lucky to have found a man who would be with her and help care for her children. One month into the marriage her husband requested that she use the son’s money to pay the bills. When questioning him he became verbally and emotionally abusive. As the start of school quickly approaching, the children needed clothes as well as school materials, but this did not matter to her husband.

Naomi’s husband later lost his job and came with Naomi to DHS to request benefits for the family. While at DHS, her husband demanded that Naomi stay quiet and pretend she did not know how to speak English. He also reported to DHS that Naomi had special needs and could not communicate well, so all information should go through him. Since her husband was collecting unemployment Naomi was referred to 30 hour work program to comply with RIWorks putting more stress on her.

After having the benefits approved, Naomi’s husband let her come to DHS on her own. At her very first meeting with the ECA she reported the emotional and verbal abuse. She was referred to Family Violence Option Advocacy Program, but Naomi did not need any waivers nor was she ready to leave. Together with DHS, Naomi scheduled a time to meet several times for two weeks.

During those two weeks, the abuse became physical and Naomi’s husband also began hitting the kids. Once Naomi saw her kids getting hurt she said enough was enough. She decided to make a plan to leave. She was able to contact a family member and secretly fled with her two children to safety. Naomi said that it was the most intense experience of her life, but is grateful to her DHS contact for giving her the support she needed to break free. Naomi is looking forward to a brighter future with her children.