Children don’t choose their parents, or their circumstances, but with resilience, support, and steady guidance, they can choose their future. This letter from “Nannie” tells the story of courage, survival, and giving back . . .
“I was raised in an abusive home and witnessed unspeakable violence. I struggled as a teen, and throughout my early twenties. Not long ago, I learned from Child & Family Service that the trauma of what I had seen and experienced was preventing me from healing and from having a healthy life, and healthy relationships.
I didn’t know I could be the mother I never had. I didn’t know I could trust and marry a man who would be an example of a loving husband and father. I didn’t know that I was smart and could have respectable career. I didn’t know that I could become more than an angry and terrified girl who didn’t trust or believe in anyone. I didn’t know that I didn’t have to be tough to be strong.
I know these things now and this is why my husband, children and I gladly contribute each year, so that the programs offered by Child & Family Service are open to people like me, who want a better life than the one we were born into. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
-“Nannie”
CFS ABUSE HOTLINES:
O‘ahu: 808.841.0822
West Hawai‘i: 808.322.7233
East Hawai‘i: 808.959.8864
Hours: 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
