Augusta Woman Dreams A Bi-lingual Home For Abused Women

Augusta, GA -- In 2010, 129 Georgia residents lost
their lives due to domestic violence. That's according to the domestic violence fatality review report issued earlier this month. Immigrants experience violence at the same rate as other communitys, but because of the language barrier they often don't get help. One local woman is trying to change that by opening up a bi-lingual shelter for abused women.
It's Karen Cruz's warm personality that keeps customers like Anne Simmons coming back to her beauty salon for the past 18 years, but Karen's life has not always been filled with laughter, she explained why, "A lot of this story my kids don't know, ok? Because I don't talk about this to my kids. But he used to hit me," she said.
23 years ago, Karen was in an abusive relationship. She said it took her a few years to leave, "It wasn't until he hit me really hard, he hit me on the jaw and I couldn't even eat, I had to drink through a straw. I didn't tell my mom, I didn't even go to a hospital, it wasn't until then where I had to make a decision. It was my life or his," she said.
Karen took her kids, left Peurto Rico and started from scratch. She could barely speak English, but she eventually went to Beauty school and raised her 4 children here in Augusta. Recently, she says she got a message from God,"He said you know, that's a very good place to build for abused women for victims of domestic violence," she said.
Now besides working at her salon, Karen is pouring her heart and soul into this, "At My Father's House". She is still in the beginning stages, but eventually she envisions it being a community of private cottages ...