A Client Story

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Marissa married Keith in 2019. Keith was physically, verbally, and emotionally abusive towards Marissa, including hitting her while she was pregnant with their son Isaiah. The abuse of Marissa continued. One day Marissa suffered injuries to her shoulders and and couldn’t pick up her own son.

Marissa called Life Span to help her obtain an Order of Protection and a divorce. After Marissa’s case began, her husband’s attorney emailed her, stating that the Emergency Order of Protection was vacated because she failed to show up to court. Her return date on the Emergency Order of Protection, however, was two weeks away, and she told us that she had never received notice of a new date.

Marissa was terrified that Keith would show up at their home, confront her, and try to take Isaiah. So she and Isaiah jumped into her car and drove to a nearby cheap motel. Marissa had no access to funds but Marissa’s mother had just enough cash to cover the cost of the hotel for one night.

“Some of the most stressful hours of my life.”
Marissa’s Life Span attorney learned that Keith’s attorney did not send her proper notice of the court date, as the email he had attempted to send her bounced back and he received an error message. As this discovery was made late on a Friday afternoon as courts were closing, Marissa was understandably concerned about where she and Isaiah were going to sleep for the rest of the weekend.

Thanks to you, our supporters, we were able to cover the remainder of her hotel costs, giving her much needed relief during what she called “some of the most stressful hours of my life” until we could get into court Monday morning.

Keith’s attorney attempted to negotiate dismissing the order of protection and instead entering a mutual stay away order, but Marissa and her Life Span attorney successfully argued that this was an abusive relationship, not a case in which two spouses just don’t get along. Life Span was also able to negotiate with Keith’s attorney a divorce along with child support.

Thanks to donors like you, the legal and resource aid provided Marissa with much needed financial and emotional relief, and enabled Marissa and Isaiah to begin a new life.