A young lady came back into the doors of Hope Clinic. She had previously been here at the beginning of the year with a pregnancy scare. Her test at that visit was negative. It was evident from the first time she embarked through our doors she was desperately in need of healing from past abuse and trauma. She had walls around her fragile heart, but she kept saying she was fine. It had been a few months since our encounter with this beautiful young lady, so we called to check on her. Our Nurse and follow-up volunteer are both diligent to make sure those ongoing phone calls are made no matter what situation our patient is facing. She was upset as she talked to the nurse because she had just experienced the heart break of a miscarriage. Our caring Nurse asked the patient if she would like to come in for a consult and she agreed.
Because she knew she was in a safe space, she shared more about her situation. She also acknowledged for the first time that she was in need of healing from her past trauma. She stated she was miserable and had no purpose in life. Her Care Coordinator (CC) at that time knew she needed to be assessed further by our staff CC who is a therapist. The young lady agreed and came back, opening up even more allowing herself to shed tears. She started her journey of healing that will most likely continue her entire life. She had been sexually, verbally, and physically abused, and was never allowed to seek counseling as a minor. This resulted in her turning to substance abuse to "take the edge off". At the end of this visit both CC joined together as a team to pray and speak life over this young lady. She still has chosen to make a move we do not feel is good for her mentally or emotionally, but she now knows she has a safe space to return. She repeated over and over how appreciative she was for our compassion and listening ears. The young lady stated no one had ever shown concern like she experienced at Hope Clinic and she left feeling important and hopeful in her situation.