A house of strength

Marie Guidry has worked for three years with Faith House, which offers help to women and children living in abusive circumstances, and it has been through her time at the organization’s Ville Platte location that she has discovered that “the women in Evangeline Parish are tough.”
That toughness is something that is important for the abused to possess in Louisiana due to the fact that this state ranks second in the nation for homicides related to domestic abuse.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, every 15 seconds a woman is battered, but how these women choose to handle the crisis they face Guidry says varies from place to place.
“This parish is different than any other parish when it comes to handling domestic abuse,” said Guidry. “In other parishes, when the ladies come to us, they want help leaving where they live.”
While some ladies wish to pack-up their things, move, and begin a new life, Guidry said, “The ladies here in Evangeline Parish come to us wanting us to help them get the guy out. They want him to have to leave.”
Guidry then continued, “A lot of the women have jobs that they don’t want to lose, so they say ‘he has to go.’”
Because of this mind set, in Evangeline Parish Faith House mostly finds itself helping women file restraining orders against the domestic abuser.
Restraining orders however are not the only assistance Faith House offers those experiencing domestic abuse.
This organization also provides group counseling sessions for abused women, but Guidry says that hasn’t been the best way to help women in Evangeline Parish.
“We have never had one person show up for group counseling in this parish,” said Guidry. “Ladies here just won’t do them, because this is a small community and they are afraid there may be someone at the group counseling that knows their abuser.”
What Faith House has done to make up for the unsuccessful attempts they have made at group counseling is allow those being abused to sit down one on one with Guidry.
As a counselor for these women, Guidry has listened to these women’s horror stories of abuse that range from one lady being forced to dig her own grave to another being held at gun point when she tried to get out of an abusive relationship. Some ladies, according to Guidry, have even been locked in their home by their abuser while he is away.
After allowing women to confide in her, Guidry works to provide these ladies with information on how to be safe and inform them of warning signs to look for that may indicate someone will be an abuser.
Some of those warning signs can be: if a guy moves a relationship really quickly, if a guy calls you a lot asking where you are, or if a guy has been cruel to pets.
When it comes to how to stay safe, Guidry said, “We would rather not have that information out there for the public because we would hate for abusers to be aware of what we tell the women. The abuser may start to pick up on those things, and that could make things worse for the woman.”
The work that Faith House is doing for the women in Evangeline Parish is something that Guidry says has taken a team effort.
“Faith House feels that the two judges -- Judge Gary Ortego and Judge Chuck West -- have been so helpful and they are taking domestic violence serious,” said Guidry. “The law enforcement officers from all of the departments parish wide and the District Attorney’s office have also been very supportive of Faith House. When a restraining order is done, they are being enforced, which means a lot to us.”
While domestic abuse is still very prevalent here, Guidry plans to stick around to keep working to provide a way out of the dangerous situations that so many face.
Guidry said, “I am proud of the ladies here. I love that they are so feisty and very resilient. Once they are out of a bad situation, they can bounce back. I want to stay here to help each lady experiencing domestic violence to give them and their children a chance at a better life. That’s what has to be done to try to break the domestic violence cycle and that is what Faith House is all about.”