Community Matters
Building Strong Families Matters.
Meet Debi
Debi Holt is a survivor. She had the courage to leave an abusive relationship and claim peace in her life. Debi's story of abuse isn't unusual. One out of every four women is a victim of domestic violence. Not all of them live to tell their story. Debi did. But her journey to happiness wasn't easy.
Debi and Ben met seven years ago, and the two became good friends. After she let him move into her apartment, their relationship changed. They both became heavily involved in drugs, which brought out Ben's jealous side. At first, Debi didn't realize that she was being abused. Ben yelled at her for little things, like hanging out with friends. He complained that she wasn't spending enough time with him. After three failed marriages, Debi desperately wanted to make the relationship work, so she stayed. And she knew that when he wasn't using drugs, Ben had a good heart.
The abuse escalated to violence. Ben began to shove Debi and throw beer bottles at her when he was angry, pushing her into deeper isolation. Once, he even dragged Debi out of bed by her ankles. She abused more drugs so she wouldn't have to feel. She even tried overdosing on pain pills. Debi tried to hide her drug abuse because it would expose the pain and abuse at home.
One night, while Debi was in bed, Ben threw a beer bottle at the headboard, shattering glass all over Debi. As she tried to leave, Ben barricaded her in a bathroom and punched her in the face, breaking her nose and knocking out her contacts. The next day, Ben dropped Debi off at work. Debi's supervisor looked into her swollen eyes and called Interact, an agency that supports domestic violence victims.
The Interact staff put Debi in a safe place and gave her a Teddy bear, which she keeps to remind herself of the night she decided to change her life. The next day, she filed charges against Ben and got a protective order. She later moved into Interact's safe house, an 18-bed residence in a secret location in Wake County. It was a home, her saving grace.
For three months, she lived with other women who had escaped abusive relationships, some with children. There, she realized that she's not alone - other women have similar stories of violence and abuse. The Interact counselors helped Debi learn to love herself and regain her self-esteem. She knows that she can be happy without a man in her life.
After leaving the safe house, Debi moved into her new home with the encouragement of the Interact counselors. She now lives in a house with eight other women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. She has been free from drugs for nearly two years. Debi is no longer a victim - she is a survivor. She credits her new outlook on life to the caring staff at Interact and the support of Triangle United Way.
Last year, United Way helped over 10,000 survivors like Debi to access crisis intervention services. Your gift to United Way matters.
Debi matters.