Meet Megan...this is what choosing life looked like for her.

Hope Haven Gave Me Hope. 

To start off, Hope Haven Pregnancy Center changed my life forever and saved me from a life I never thought I could get out of. So I’m here today to tell my story.

I made the choice to get back with one of my high school boyfriends, and I took a chance I never should have that changed my life forever. I found myself stuck in a very bad abusive relationship, mentally, emotionally, financially, and most of all, physically abusive relationship. On top of the abuse, I was pregnant with my abuser’s child and also cost me custody of my other children and felt like I had no other option but to stay because I had already lost everything at that point. Staying felt like my only option because I had no one else and nowhere else to go.

Months and months into the pregnancy, I was being abused in ways I never imagined, constantly getting kicked out, then being told to come back, ’til I finally reached my breaking point and I couldn’t take anymore. I had a baby due at anytime, and I couldn’t be there anymore or bring a new baby into that lifestyle. I was already experiencing pregnancy depression and anxiety, and I knew once I had my child my hormones and everything would be so much worse and didn’t know what would happen to me. So I finally left after the last time. I refused to be touched again.

I stayed in my car and at a family member’s house after finally opening up about everything I had went through, but their house wasn’t somewhere I could stay long. So I reached out to The Shelter, Inc., and unfortunately at that time they were full, but if it wasn’t for the lady that answered the phone that day, I don’t know what I would have done. Luckily, she also volunteered at Hope Haven Pregnancy Center, and she referred me to them.

I called Hope Haven, and they got back to me so quickly. After sitting down and finally having a very hard, open conversation about everything I had experienced, they knew I needed them more than ever, and at that point God’s work took over and changed my life in a way I never imagined.

The very next day, they helped me find housing until I could get my own place.

During the process of me being away from my abuser, they started helping me rebuild my life again. They even threw me my first baby shower and helped me with everything I needed. They helped me with parenting classes, cooking classes, and domestic violence classes, which really helped me realize just how bad of a situation I was in that I was so blind to and realized just how much I had went through that I thought was my fault or became the new normal.

I finally got into therapy and started healing wounds and processing more things I had went through and started opening up more.

Then I had my baby!

And they were like my family and village. They showed up for me when I had no one else. They came to the hospital with flowers, food, and as family, being there for me, checking in on me, and even brought my other children to me so they could see their new baby sibling.

After I got out of the hospital, they had a meal train and had people coming in and helping me and just being there for me in the hardest time with a newborn baby and took the weight off and made me feel less alone.

Then I finally got the call that I had been waiting for: my own house was there and ready for me!

So after about 2 weeks of recovery from having the baby, Hope Haven came through with so many people and helped me move into my new and very own place, and it was the most emotional experience of my life, seeing just how many people can come through and help someone they don’t even know.

After getting moved into my own house, Hope Haven and The Shelter, Inc. were still there for me. They went with me to court and helped me regain unsupervised visits with my kids again, and I finally got to bring them home for visits! Everything was finally falling into place.

Hope Haven gave me a sense of hope when I had none left. They were my village.

My baby is 6 months old now, and they are still here for me. They are still there helping me with classes and recovery, my village and my family.

I recommend anyone going to Hope Haven Pregnancy Center, whether you feel lost, alone, scared and don’t know what to do, or just need a little help with things. They changed my life forever, and I could never thank them enough, and I’ll forever be grateful for the life they gave me and saved me from because if it wasn’t for them, I don’t know where I’d be today.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to them. It’s never too late. No matter what you’re going through, they won’t judge you. They will love you and be there for you in more ways than you could ever imagine and help with things I never knew I could have help with.

I wish I knew about them sooner, but it’s all God’s timing, and I hope my story can help spread the word so more women in the same situation I was in is able to come forward and save themselves too.

Thank you, Hope Haven Pregnancy Center & The Shelter, for everything y’all have ever done for me.

Her baby's life mattered. So did the circumstances that made choosing life feel impossible.