Melissa, a New Hampshire mother who experienced homelessness because of domestic violence, shares story

It was two years ago, this past February. Um, my husband attacked me brutally in front of my two sons. *** restraining order was placed on him and the landlord pretty much evicted me. The next day I packed up all my kids clothes and their toys and left three days later. So we were in the hotel, we stayed about two weeks until I ran out of funds. And by the time summer time hit we were sleeping in, um, in our car. You know, how do kids charge their chromebooks for school? You know, how do you keep warm when you don't have money to put in your gas tank? But we were just like everybody else. You know, we just blended in, you know, or the people down at Prescott Park were the people on the beaches or the people in the stores? Our kids go to school with your kids. Um, figuring out how you're gonna do their laundry, you know, where you're gonna eat for the night, what pantry you're gonna go to. That's *** lot, to be honest. Some nights it felt more like *** punishment than ***, than *** reward, you know, here I am trying to do the right thing. You know, we've been in Portsmouth long enough where the town finally put us up in *** hotel and then, um, I found space for us at Sco's family promise in exeter. And that was the game changer right there. There was an Ln *** program that you got paid to take. So I just marched in there and the timing just, everything just worked out. I immediately started full time work. I love my job and I love what I do. Homelessness can happen to anyone. And most of us, if not, all of us are just trying to get *** better life for ourselves and for our families, homelessness exists and it exists in New Hampshire and not just in New Hampshire but all over the country and that we're not all drug addicts. There were just people that have ended up on hard times because life happens to anybody, whether they wanted to or not. If you are homeless and you do happen to see this on TV, while you're in *** diner or at *** gas station, don't give up hope because we're trying to change the message. We're trying to change the stigma and that you're loved and you're cared about. You're not alone because many of us have been there too.