Hannah’s Story

“For the first time,

I didn't have to think

about where he was.

I didn't have to think

about anything, just

me and my girls.”

As the white, foamy waves brush up on the shore, a young Kenyan girl pays them a visit. She came to relax, to enjoy the sunshine. “You don’t even have to decide where to go, there’s beaches everywhere in Kenya,” said Hannah, now sitting in Minnesota recounting her childhood. “It was like summer every night.” Hannah, the only child of a technician and secretary, dreamt of becoming a nurse to help others. “It came down to my heart and how I see people,” she said.

At the age of 21, Hannah came to the United States for her uncle’s graduation ceremony and decided to stay. She was pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter and raised her while living with her aunt and uncle. Her daughter was three when she met the man who would become her husband, Aaron. Hannah met Aaron through a mutual friend. “Anything you say, he would do it,” remembered Hannah. “But what drew me most to him was that he showed love to my daughter.”

After a few months, Aaron suggested they move in together. He would pay their bills and put Hannah’s daughter in a private school. Hannah was 23 when she agreed to move in, and they were married two years later.

Aaron changed. He became more violent and argumentative. He yelled and threatened to make

Hannah’s life difficult, ensuring that she would suffer and never have independence. “Since I was in love with him, I was willing to forgive him and work things out so that we can be a happy family. I ignored all the signs of his anger, rage, and aggressiveness.”

Hannah attempted to leave multiple times with her daughters, as her and Aaron now had a daughter together. However, she said, “I thought I was not capable of supporting my family alone, so I always went back to him.”

One night, Aaron became angry about paying for her daughter’s education. Hannah tried to calm him down, protecting her two daughters in the room. He stabbed Hannah, who later needed two abdominal surgeries to repair the wounds.

Aaron threatened Hannah not to tell the police officers what happened because if he went to jail, the children would suffer. Hannah told the officers everything, and Aaron was arrested that night.

Hannah and her daughters moved into a shelter, and it was there that she learned about The Dwelling Place. Hannah arrived and was shocked to find a living room, kitchen, and bedrooms for her and her daughters. “For the first time, I didn’t have to think about Aaron and where he was,” she said. “I didn’t have to think about anything, just me and my girls.”

Hannah became a CNA. She was able to save money of her own. She found an apartment. But when asked what she learned the most at The Dwelling Place, she said, “Always pray. I did that, and I thank God for just being able to help me. Just look at the fact that I can even laugh and be happy.”

In her new apartment building, Hannah befriended one of her neighbors. “She started telling me the same kind of story I went through,” said Hannah. “I told her ‘Don’t worry, I have a book.’” Hannah gave her neighbor the book she was given on her first day at The Dwelling Place. A book that lays out what domestic abuse is, what its effects are, and what the Bible has to say about it.

For the safety of TDP residents, alumni, and staff, the name and photo in this story have been changed.