I sat with Maricruz on the porch of the house and as I began to ask questions about her past, I knew that I was shaking up something inside of her that she had worked hard to repress. Slowly she began to tell me her story.
Maricruz was 15 years old, and her parents did not allow her to date yet. But she was young and curious and met an older man named Steven whom she started secretly seeing. He was a gang member with tattoos who drew her in with his charm and sweet words. Soon enough, Maricruz moved in with him and at 15 years old, she was pregnant and her life was forever changed.
While pregnant, Maricruz decided to move back in with her parents. Her mom, though upset, welcomed Maricruz back, but her father had already disowned her. He would not speak to his own daughter. If he walked in a room where she was, he would say something like “Oh it stinks in here.” She would get up and go to her room where she would stay to avoid her father.
Finally, Maricruz gave birth to a little girl named Vanessa. Though Maricruz had not spoken to her own father throughout her pregnancy, she recounted the fact that she called him when the baby was born and he visited her in the hospital with flowers.
After Vanessa was born, Maricruz moved back in with Steven. This was hard for her parents because they didn’t think it was the right place for a child, for Maricruz lived in a bad area full of gangs and drugs. One day when the baby was little, her mom went over to Maricruz’s home while she was lying on the bed and the baby was in the crib. Her mom walked up to the baby, picked her up, and walked out of the house. Maricruz doesn’t know why she didn’t stop her mother. However, she eventually got a restraining order against the baby's grandparents.
Soon, Maricruz became pregnant again and at this point, Steven was a hard user of drugs and smoking PCP. One day she came home from school and he was all drugged up. He was in his room just lying there as she describes. He approached her, “Where were you?!” "At school," she said. Then for the first time ever he hit her. He hit her in the face and as she describes it, she didn’t even feel it because she just couldn’t believe it was happening. She remembers seeing the blood and thinking, “what the hell just happened?” She was so afraid that she went into the closet and just sat there holding her face. One of Steven’s relatives must have heard them because she opened the door and asked what happened. “You better not have hit her,” she said. She found Maricruz sitting in the closet and urged her to get out and call the cops on him. But Maricruz didn’t. She never even told her parents. To this day they don’t know.
Maricruz was 18 now and was still living with Steven. He was using drugs still, and for a period of 3 weeks he completely disappeared. It took this act of neglect for Maricruz to consider leaving him. At this time she already knew about House of Ruth through an ex-resident of the house who continually encouraged Maricruz to enter the program. Maricruz knew the current environment where she was living wasn’t good for her children, and so she eventually decided to go for an interview at House of Ruth. They accepted her there and she called her dad, “Dad can you come for me?” He did just that, and he brought her to the house where she began her life-changing journey.
Her life was beginning to change but Maricruz was still caught in some of her old issues for the 15 months she lived there. Steven came to House of Ruth twice, all drugged up, and made big scenes. And at times they would see each other in the neighborhood and Steven would cause drama. Luisa, who worked at house of ruth, helped Maricruz a lot. Luisa would be driving to or from work and would see Maricruz arguing on the streets with her ex. Luisa would get out and help. “Maricruz, get in the car! Do not let him talk to you like this. You don’t need this…” Another person that helped her was her case manager, Lancia, who really pushed her to be better.
With all of this help, Maricruz eventually got a job, received section 8, and moved out on her own. She went from being a girl easy to manipulate, into a strong woman and mother. She loves her children, and although she regrets the desisions she made, she never regrets having her children. She believes that without House of Ruth, she would be living with Steven and living with fear. She wouldn't have had the beautiful memories like Thanksgiving Dinner at House of Ruth with all of the broken pieces of families becoming one. She wouldn't have known about all of the help out there. She wouldn't be the person she is today.
Today Maricruz is happy and has 3 children: Vanessa who is 18, Manuel who is 16, and Eve the youngest. Maricruz is a good parent and talks to her children in the way she wishes her mother would have talked to her. She talks to them about sex and drugs, and things that young adolescents need to talk about. She wants her children to make better decisions than she did.
Maricruz loves House of Ruth, and is still there today - not as a resident but as an employee. She works in the daycare and is taking classes to become a parenting instructor, which is her dream. After being certified she plans to give classes to the women at House of Ruth.
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