Betsy’s Story

Betsy came to New Mom’s Oak Park location (formerly known as Parenthesis) after feeling isolated and needing support as she raised three children on her own.  Her background of abuse left her feeling unsure how to raise her boys as a single mother.

“I still remember the desperation  I felt as I visited the grocery store a mere 4 days after giving birth, with my three children in the shopping cart, feeling outnumbered and alone, trying to accept my new role as a single mom, while facing the legal, financial and emotional hurdles of divorce. As a child, I was raised in a physically, emotionally, verbally and even sexually abusive home.  If there is anything I knew since I was a teenager, was that I planned on breaking the cycle!  And that I did, thanks to God.  As a new parent though, I knew what NOT to do, but I didn’t always know what TO do.  I found myself struggling with finding the balance of setting boundaries and consequences, without being neither abusive nor lenient.”

Betsy joined the single moms group in Oak Park and received twice monthly home visits and attended a weekly support group which included dinner and child care.  She was able to learn what TO do as a parent to promote positive behavior in her boys.

“New Moms/Parenthesis equipped me with so many tools for the many stages of development.  Simple strategies, like distraction, speaking at eye level, consistency, validating emotions, were foreign to me.  Having a social worker visit my home and support my children’s development and support my parenting as well as my emotional well-being, was in fact a LIFE SAVER!”

Besty’s life has transformed.

“Five years have passed and thanks to God’s grace, strength and provision my story reads VERY different today.  My boys are now 5, 6 and 11.  I was able to take necessary boundaries in the abusive relationship I had.  I am completing my Masters in Education as I transition to teach.  After five years of no dating, I am in healthy, mature relationship with a godly man who has also become my best friend.  Through this program of coming into my living room twice a month to impact not just my life and the life of my children, abusive cycles have been broken and this support impacted my future generations.”