“Helping other people is gratifying.”

Erika has been in the United States for nine years, and has been closely involved with Good Samaritan for six years. The first day she walked in the door, she was trying to deal with the domestic violence that was shattering her life. “The center was very inviting and warm,” she recalls. Erika felt comfortable enough at Good Sam to begin to participate in a domestic violence survivor program produced by Good Samaritan and Casas de las Madres. She enrolled her son, William, at the Child Development Center, and participated in many more Good Samaritan women’s programs. “In a way, Good Sam became my home,” she says.

Through professional training, Erika has gained job skills and is now a Good Samaritan Promotora. Stable and hopeful for the future, she feels she is now at a point in her life where she is able to reach out to other women in need. Because Erika has been on the other end of the help line, she is able to have real compassion for her clients. “Working here is gratifying because when I first arrived here as a client… I had no idea I would one day work helping other people find resources!”