“I came down the stairs and I knew it was going to be bad. He was holding a knife behind his back. I’ll never forget how he looked at me.” Sarah Miller* bolted out the door, got in her car and fled the marriage that had become a nightmare of emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
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When she first came to the Center, Yolanda* was terrified by her husband’s growing gang involvement. She was very fearful and traumatized by his physical and sexual violence towards her, sometimes witnessed by their two small children. He carried a gun which she found unprotected in their home, and he said he could not assure
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Elise Rosales* was terrified. Her ex-husband had attacked her outside her place of work, knocking her down, punching her with his fists and kicking her. “I’m taking the kids,” he told her, “and you’re dead.” Elise was left bleeding on the ground. Her ex-husband didn’t yet know where she and her children were living, she
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Domestic violence fueled by alcohol abuse were the reasons that drove Lisa* to want a divorce from her husband. She needed help protecting herself, her three children, and her legal rights accumulated after 18 years of marriage. Guided by the Center’s pro per program, Lisa obtained a final decree of dissolution, support and payment of
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Mario* was 17 when he and his girlfriend learned she was pregnant. After the birth of their daughter, Mario and his girlfriend broke up. She refused to let Mario see his daughter and he became fearful for her safety and well-being. With the help of the Harriett Buhai Center and its Pro Bono Panel, Mario
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