Angela’s Story Video Transcript

Audio	Visual
[no sound]	Family Justice Center Sonoma County
I am a business professional, fitness professional,	Angela speaks
and mom in our community.	Photograph set against a yellow and orange as a person sits on the ground and holds their baby on her knees.
I was much younger when I met my abuser and ex. It was about nine months into our relationship, the first incident happened,	Angela Young, Survivor and Former Client of Family Justice Center (FJC) Sonoma County
and I weirdly was in front of a lot of people, and no one said or did anything.	Large crowd of fast-walking people.
He hit me and knocked me down as I was walking away from him. I was so shocked because it never happened. It’s never, ever nothing like that has ever happened to me before that I couldn’t believe that it was on purpose. He was very apologetic and said he was trying to protect me. And it just nothing made sense to me.	Angela speaks
So I forgave him several more incidents over years.	Person hugs another person.
He hit me,	Angela speaks
choked me, kicked me, hit me with objects, punched me. It wasn’t every day and it wasn’t all the time.	Raindrops fall into a puddle of water.
So I think my mind	Angela speaks
was just, he’s just having a bad day,	Person sits in a crouch position on the floor as their head rests on their folded arms.
or I felt like he was under stress and that this wasn’t really him,	Person places hand against other person’s face
and that if things would just go the way he needed them to, it would be fine. Just hope. At some point, it went from hoping things will change to being extremely scared to	Angela speaks
how to get out of the situation I was in. There was nothing I can do. It was spinning out of control, and I was just trying to hold it together.	One leaf left on a tree as the wind blows
No one in my entire life knew what was going on. I have friends now, they’re like, “Why didn’t you tell me?” Or my family? I would have done. I have to remind them it’s not your fault that I kept this big secret.	Angela speaks
I just was ashamed and scared and embarrassed that I got myself	Person looks out a window
a strong woman, independent, in business for herself, in a situation that I couldn’t get out of. I did not grow up in a violent or abusive situation. I still have no idea how I got into this situation. I did not want my child to go through it or think that this was normal because it’s not normal. Before I even had a chance to leave, there was back to back, very violent incidents. And then the final incident was a night in which	Angela speaks
it actually involved my child and her calling 911.	An empty swing swings.
He had attacked me	Police car drives down a street
in my room and punched me several times in the face and head and luckily, I was able to escape. Thankfully, the sheriff	Angela speaks
arrived and after everything was said and done,	Lights of a sheriff’s car as it races down a road.
they introduced me to the FJC	Angela speaks
And the paperwork for the FJC You have to really want to get out and you have to have	A person holds paperwork in one hand with a pen in the other hand.
the support to help you get out.	Angela speaks
Because of the support of the FJC,	FJC Interview Room set up with couches, plants, an ottoman, a table and chair and a wall hanging that said “Be a Rainbow in the Clouds.”
I was able to go to one place, the FJC, and have all the services provided to me and not have to	Angela speaks
tell my story several times. Initially, it was still scary	A person talks with animated hands to another person in a room.
and I still felt like maybe they will judge me because of who I am and what I should have done. And it was the very opposite experience	Angela speaks
I felt so cared for. And they took me in and they guided me through a process	Two people talk to each other as they sit across from each other with their hands on the table. One person reaches for and holds the other person’s hands.
that I don’t think I could have ever gotten through without them. They connected me to attorneys and to help with the criminal side and to the YWCA so that I could begin to heal myself and learn about domestic violence	Angela speaks
so I could prevent getting into this situation again.	A family cups each other’s hands, while smallest hand holds a small wooden house.
The FJC is extremely important to our community, and I really want people to know that if it wasn’t for them, so many people. Might go back to their situations and end up severely injured or worse or repeat the cycle and then their children repeat the cycle. So it’s really important that the FJC is around for people.	Angela speaks
[music playing]	Family Justice Center, Sonoma County. You are not alone. Call 707.565.8255
[no sound]	Production Services Provided by Sound ideas media Cinematography & Editing by Alejandro R. Torres Production Coordinator Don Mills Testimonial Angela Young Music Rustic Ballad by Alexander Nakarada Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4720-rustic-ballad License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Virtutes Instrumenti by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4590-virtutes-instrumenti License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ © 2020 Family Justice Center Sonoma County

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