The Healing Journey
The following was a speech given by Sakinah Mujahid, the Associate Director of Shelter Operations, at the Host Coordinator Dinner on June 12th.
For those that do not know me I am, Sakinah Mujahid, Associate Director of Shelter Operations. I have been with Beacon for almost seven years in October in many capacities. I came to this work by way of my own personal struggles. For 10 years now, I have been a survivor of domestic abuse from my ex-husband. Due to this situation, I was faced with the challenge of now being the primary caregiver for my 4 children (at the time). In a matter of 2 months of him leaving, I received a notice of eviction, struggled with providing food for the children, my car began to break down and almost all the utilities were on the verge of being shut down. As much as my family loves me and wanted to support me financially they could not. After slowly trying to figure out my next steps, I finally reached out to my faith leader at Masjid An-Nur, to see what support I could get from them. I was connected to St. Stephens Human Services by one of our board members where my rent and utilities got paid, then I was connected to another member in the community for car repairs but received a better working car. The masjid was able to provide me food from the food shelf. My abuse was primarily psychological and emotional to where I found myself depressed, to the point where I did not want to live any more. By the grace of God, I knew and felt that I had a purpose greater than this situation I was in because I was so blessed to be connected to many resources just within my own faith community. These blessings gave me the strength and motivation to get up and do something more to sustain and provide for my children and many others. From that day forward I made a promise to myself to not let this happen to another woman, child or family by any way I can. I get to do this through Families Moving Forward by working to find the necessary resources for those in crises, working to empower those feeling like they cannot push forward and working with individuals who provide services to do it with the right skills in ways that those seeking will not lose their dignity by asking for help. I am sharing my story to be able to say thank you to those that are helping with the work and those that have allowed me to pay it forward with them, it has definitely been a journey but also a healing process for me.
