Raising a child as a single mother is hard enough, let alone when carrying the weight of a lifetime of trauma and loss. This was life for Brianna* before finding healing through The Women’s Center of Tarrant County.
The Women’s Center provides evidence-based programs that support men, women and children suffering from sexual abuse, violence, poverty and mental health issues.
The organization changes lives every day which is why United Way of Tarrant County’s Women United donor network gave the center $40,000 in 2022. As a result, 575 women, including Brianna, received counseling and mental health services.
As the youngest of 10 children, Brianna was part of a family struggling with poverty and her father’s addiction. With her 15-year-old sister pregnant and her brothers in and out of jail, Brianna dropped out of school in eighth grade to support her family.
Unfortunately, life never got easier. Throughout her teen years, Brianna suffered many miscarriages and experienced sexual assault into her early twenties.
Brianna and her fiancée Mark* welcomed their son Nicholas* when she was 21, but heartbreak followed when Mark died of a Fentanyl overdose. Tragically, just a few weeks later, her cousin died by suicide.
Despite these terrible circumstances, Brianna tried every day to make a better life for herself and Nicholas. After getting a GED, she began working toward a cosmetology career. But years spent avoiding her emotions eventually caught up to her.
Last spring, Brianna struggled to power through each day. Tired of feeling hopeless, Brianna reached out to The Women’s Center for therapy. Everything changed.
Counselors provided Brianna with grief therapy to process her traumatic memories and finally let go of her pain. Coming from a family that didn’t believe in therapy, she broke generational traumas and is setting an example for her son by showing him mental health matters.
“Since I’ve been working on my trauma, I finally feel free,” said Brianna. “I feel happy again, and hopeful, like I want to live and have a great life for me and my son. I feel like it is possible now.”
Today, Brianna has turned that possibility into a reality. After completing her therapy at The Women’s Center, she started a new job and purchased a home.
United Way of Tarrant County believes everyone deserves the chance to build a better life. Women United proudly supports The Women’s Center, which gives people like Brianna hope.
You can be a part of the impact Women United is making for women and girls in Tarrant County. Join us for our third annual Investing in Impact luncheon, 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 11 at Ridglea Country Club.
Women United will award $60,000 in grants to local nonprofits changing lives and creating positive outcomes for women and girls in Tarrant County.
*Names have been changed.
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