“I’m not a victim. I’m not broken. I have discernment.”
In November, Stephanie* walked away from everything she knew, and a home marked with the history of a violent relationship, with a backpack full of clothes.
“I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t care if I ended up at a shelter. I couldn’t do it anymore.”
With no money of her own, a friend called an Uber for Stephanie and 15 minutes later, she was delivered to safety. A spare bedroom waited for her in the home of her mentor’s mentor, a 75-year-old pioneer of the mental health field who had once sought help from Fresh Start herself, back before the organization even had its resource center.
That full-circle moment wasn’t lost on Stephanie. But she wasn’t thinking about symbolism then, she was thinking about survival.
The first thing her new roommate did after Stephanie was settled was bring her to Fresh Start.
She signed up for success coaching, joined their domestic violence support group, and received a clothing voucher to W.H.E.A.T. Clothing Silo when she had almost nothing to wear. At Fresh Start, she felt like the support met her exactly where she was and helped her take one manageable step at a time.
“My Fresh Start success coach changed my thinking incredibly. Instead of ‘I have all of this on my plate,’ she taught me to think step-by-step.”
Those small, consumable steps became Stephanie’s lifeline. She went to therapy. She visited a doctor and got on ADHD medication, something that she’d needed for years but couldn’t prioritize while living in constant fight-or-flight. She joined Fresh Start’s Personal Empowerment Series, took a self-defense workshop, and a yoga class. Outside of Fresh Start, she joined a gym. She colored her hair. She started sleeping better.
Stephanie also confronted a painful financial reality: she had been paying rent in Mesa, on an apartment she no longer lived in, with help from her children. From the help of her success coaching sessions with Dorinda, a Fresh Start Social Worker, she submitted a letter to terminate her lease. Even if she didn’t receive the answer she hoped for, it was the first time in a long time she hadn’t faced something alone.
Then came Fresh Start’s Women in Finance program.
Stephanie walked into the seven-week program carrying decades of specialized work experience: nearly ten years managing a niche retail food program and years in big box retail. She had a head full of reasons why none of it mattered and felt overcome with imposter syndrome. And most certainly, that no one would hire her.
“I can’t do this. I can’t put together a resume. No one is going to hire me. No one is going to want me,” Stephanie reflected, “that was my thinking going in.”
During seven weeks in the classroom, that thinking shifted. Instructors helped Stephanie see her experience not as a liability, but as a lens, a unique point of view she could bring to any employer. She connected her story to geology: things change over time and pressure. I am what I am because of time and pressure.
Stephanie started keeping a journal while in class. She made lists of skills to build on. She practiced not interrupting while others spoke. She wrote down tools and tips she wanted to remember.
At a Fresh Start ‘Meet the Employer’ workforce training event, Stephanie was put on the spot to make a cold call. She did. Before she got home, she had an email from the recruiter. The potential role could start from $23-$26 an hour. From a spare bedroom with no car and no income, she’s building a path toward a two-bedroom apartment for her and her 15-year-old daughter.
“To someone on the outside, my life doesn’t look that different from November. I’m still living with someone else. I’m unemployed. I take the bus,” Stephanie shared. “But the way I interact with the world is different. What success looks like to me now is totally different than what it did in November.”
Stephanie knows what she wants her legacy to be: to be telling her story to her grandchildren someday and have them looking at her daughters with absolute disbelief of the journey they all experienced to reach self-sufficiency.
Stephanie accepted a position as an Associate Underwriter with AXA XL with benefits starting on day one in May 2026.
Stephanie shared via email: I am still in awe that I have this amazing opportunity for a new life–one with stability and self-reliance. Thank you for being part of an amazing team that helped lift me up. I look forward to sharing how amazing my new job is going. Thank you a million times over.