Increased Pressure at Christmas: Client Story

Gina came to City Mission in despair.

She didn’t have enough time to pack a lot. The children’s Christmas presents and most of their clothes were still at home but she was afraid to go back.

It was a week before Christmas. Most of the Christmas shopping had been done. Gina’s two young children were starting to show some excitement about Santa’s coming and the traditional Christmas Day festivities.

Gina was worried for her husband’s increasing alcohol consumption and thought it was time she brought up the subject just three nights before Christmas Eve. It went very bad.

Gina’s husband responded with an outburst of rage she had never seen before. He started yelling at her and it became very ugly. He went to hit her but he was in control enough to stop himself. Gina felt very vulnerable but her first concern was for the children.

The next day while her husband was out, she quickly packed a few essentials and took the children to a close friend’s place on the other side of town. She left the children’s Christmas presents and most of their clothes as she didn’t have enough time to pack everything and was afraid to go back.

When Gina came to us, she was afraid and didn’t know what to do. We took Gina into a room with an array of donated gifts. She was able to choose a few gifts for her children and we let her choose one for herself as well.

We also put together a Christmas food package to help her feed her children and friend on Christmas Day.

Together with our help, encouragement from friends and other support agencies, Gina was able to reconcile her relationship with her husband.