CNN iReport

In Her Shoes: Surviving Domestic Violence

By NEAL MOORE

CAIRO, ILL (CNN iReport)

Upon entering the Cairo Women’s Shelter, in Cairo, Southernmost Illinois, one is immediately greeted with the smile of a lifetime.

Meet Jeannine Woods, Executive Director of the Cairo Women’s Shelter, who along with her rather gregarious staff, have made it their life passion to bring a sense of normalcy to the many battered women and children who, on a daily basis, buzz their way into the shelter. From that smile comes the prospect of a bona fide safe haven where the woman or often mother can begin to consider the prospect of - quite possibly for the very first time in their lives - thinking about themselves. Which can lead to positive goals.

When asked about the importance of goals, Natasha, mother of seven and resident of the Cairo Women’s Shelter, explained, “I pray every day for strength to keep me to do this – to give me the power to keep going … to keep it in me that I am here and I’ve got to protect my kids and that when I leave here, that it’s still going to remain the same.”

Buzzing with activity, Jeannine and myself, looking for a place to conduct the interview, decided it best to step outside, seeing as how it was such a picture-perfect day. Which brought us in view of the projects of Cairo – a place that Jeannine explained was safer than one might think. “See that mother, just down the road, that one with a baby on her hip and another holding her hand?”  Looking just down the road from where we sat, I could see it, the silhouette of the trio moving positive in the other direction, along the lane between the government formed homes. “She’s not scared,” explained Jeannine. “She’s walking with confidence, and she’s walking with pride.”

Above and beyond the shelter, Jeannine wanted me to see and experience the brighter side of Cairo – a town which has been on the decline now for several decades – often stereotyped by the media in a rather negative light. In so doing, she asked me “not [to relate] the plight of Cairo, but the positive of Cairo.” Which, thanks to a number of community and political leaders quite busily making a difference, turned out to be an easy task.

“The people who choose to stay [in Cairo] represent [a] picture of hope for our community," continued Jeannine. "They don’t represent the dwindling and dire circumstances… they stay because they have hope for their community… because there is a glimmer of hope here.”

A positive spin on hope, to be sure, which in turn plays directly back into the shelter’s mantra of inner strength – a strength which helps the women of the Cairo Women’s Shelter find the wherewithal to move themselves forward.

“When she takes her shoes and plants them in her new life,” explained Jeannine, “she’s [facing the prospect] of a new life … [of a] hope for her children.”

Click on Photos by Neal Moore:

#2) Jeannine Woods, Executive Director of the Cairo Women’s Shelter, Cairo, IL.

#3) “We Use Our Hands to Help Not Hurt” – painted by the children of the Cairo Women’s Shelter, Cairo, IL.

#4) Natasha and her young family, Cairo Women's Shelter, Cairo, IL.

#5) Jeannine Woods, Executive Director of the Cairo Women’s Shelter, Cairo, IL.

Follow the journey…

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