Our Stories

Iris: New city, new chapter

April 29, 2021• Our Stories

Doctors say she was lucky.

Lucky she wasn’t dead. Lucky she wasn’t permanently blind. Lucky she wore her glasses while cooking.

Iris Avila had put herself through medical school but didn’t imagine this being where she’d end up.

“I remember opening my eyes for the first time in the hospital,” Iris recalls. “(It) was the scariest thing I had to go through.”

In 2019, shortly after celebrating their anniversary, Iris’ abusive husband threw boiling oil on her face, sealing her eyes shut. She was bedridden for three weeks to recover and doctors had to use a paperclip to help open her eyes.

But she was lucky.

“I was locked up for ten years and was finally free again,” said Iris, describing her time with her former husband. “I remember opening up my eyes for the first time and feeling like a whole new person.”

Today Iris is back at a hospital, but under much different circumstances. She’s now a financial counselor at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, GA.

A new job, a new city, a new life.

“I’m so glad I moved out here to Atlanta. … All of my bad memories were in California.”

In this city, no one knows her and, more importantly, no one knows her past.

“I don’t have to move backwards, I can just move forward in my life.”

Iris admits that having to find herself is something she is still working on. She misses her freckles, which were burned off from the assault, but has embraced her beauty without them. She is learning to love herself and find new hobbies – like traveling and being a foodie.

“I never thought that I would actually do the things that I’m able to do now,” said Iris. “I may have started late, but it is better late than never.”

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Janet: Learning to find time for herself

March 25, 2021• Our Stories

Three years ago, Janet Ortiz wrote two letters to herself. One, expressing the pain she felt in the present. The second, a bucket list for her in the future.

After years of feeling like her life was devoted to everyone besides herself, Janet wanted to get serious about healing herself from within and prioritizing her needs. This sparked a journey that would change Janet’s life and heal her trauma.

When she wrote the letter to her “future self,” it was impossible to imagine that she would be able to accomplish everything on her list. She was depressed, alone, and had just left a relationship and life she had cultivated for over two decades.

Her dreams not only came true, but Janet was also able to achieve more than what she wrote in that letter. Today, her life is full of love and light, as she continues her journey to enlightenment and inner peace.

“The fact that things that I actually wrote down are coming true… It makes me feel happy,” said Janet, who re-reads her letters when she is feeling down. “You see? You are doing good. You got this.”

In every aspect of her life, Janet is a giver: she takes care of her children and her boyfriend; she works at a non-profit organization where she helps others find housing and work opportunities; and she uses her experience to help other domestic violence survivors overcome their trauma.

After leaving her abusive relationship, Janet realized that to be able to give so much to others, she had to heal herself first. That’s when she got serious about maintaining a routine and practice to incorporate spirituality, gratitude, and structure into her life at a time when things looked the most bleak and uncertain.

Every day starts with affirmations.

Janet showers herself with self-love that helps her set the tone for the rest of her day. She also meditates, does yoga when she can and listens to spiritual podcasts.

Whenever she comes across other domestic abuse survivors, she feels compelled to help them through their process by sharing the tools she has learned to not only survive but thrive in her new life.

Janet remembers when she was leaving her abusive relationship, and how different her experience could have been if she had someone like her to help guide her.

“I would have wished someone would have told me, ‘You’re going to be okay. This is only a temporary feeling. You’re going to get over it. You’re going to get back up and you’re going to be amazing,'” said Janet. “That is why I do that to women now.”

She carries this feeling with her always, whether she’s giving advice to friends or speaking with her survivor’s therapy group, where she often volunteers to lead the sessions – including via Zoom during COVID.

Janet wants people to know that it’s okay to put yourself first. It’s okay to leave harmful relationships to preserve your own energy and it’s okay to be selfish, because you’re more valuable to the people you love when you love yourself.

“I really want women to put in the work for themselves and really get to know yourself because when you really get to know yourself, you don’t take anything from anyone else because then you know your worth,” she said.

She also wants people to know that even though the task of changing your life might seem impossible at times, an act as simple as looking at yourself in the mirror and telling yourself that you are beautiful and loved can change the entire trajectory of your day, and after a while, your life.

Janet’s story is a testament to how everyone can give themselves a second chance, and that even when it feels like the world is against us, we still have the power to change our lives. One small step can make a world of change.

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Guille: Embracing her entrepreneurial spirit

March 25, 2021• Our Stories

A mother, community leader and small business owner, Guille Quezada is making sustainable change and impact in her community, transforming her past into handmade works of art through her entrepreneurship and inspirational journey of empowerment.

Growing up in Mexico, Guille finished her elementary school education at 13 but aspired to continue. Her father, however, discouraged her saying she didn’t need more education to become a housewife and raise children. As a young woman, those were the only options in her father’s eyes.

“I have that memory of my father fixed inside me, limiting me,” said Guille, who identified that exchange as the moment she gave into her outside limitations.

Guille dreamt to have a career, but she instead chose to follow the plan her father outlined. She got married at the age of 22, raised three children and became everything that her father wanted her to be – except herself.

Guille’s husband was unfaithful and emotionally abusive. After 23 years of marriage, she chose to leave. However, she worried that she would not have the ability to survive on her own.

“I suffered a lot because I thought, ‘what am I going to do, I don’t have any skills,’” recalls Guille. “I thought I didn’t have any skills but in reality I had a lot of skills and talents within me.”

With support of several nonprofits, she was able to convert her talents into her very own business crafting apparel, jewelry and art.

Among her handmade items are aprons and hand bags from leftover scraps of fabric.

“It’s similar to us women that believe they are only left with scraps inside us. But those scraps resurface to make something new,” says Guille.

Her prized possession is her vintage sewing machine, which she uses to teach others how to be self-sufficient. She also teaches crafting classes via WhatsApp and Facebook. Her goal is to remind women that they, too, have the ability to survive on their own.

On top of her small business, Guille also hosts an internet radio show from her home that is streamed across Latin America, which focuses on simple day-to-day conversations.

Her radio show reaches listeners from countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico. Guille admits that her passion for the show transform her into another person – one that her radio colleagues have called “the Captivating Voice.”

Guille is more than a survivor. Even during COVID, she is helping women in similar situations feel empowered to make it on their own.

“Nobody stops me. Nobody limits me. I know what I have and what I’m worth. And I don’t depend on a man to succeed.”

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Emily: Educating to end the cycle

March 25, 2021• Our Stories


Nearly 10 percent of high school students – men and women – experience physical abuse by their intimate partner, according to the CDC. Unless this cycle of violence and emotional abuse is addressed, these young adults will join the millions who live within an unhealthy relationship, some ending fatally.

Emily Nuñez, a college freshman at Cal Poly Pomona, is among a group of Boyle Heights teens working at the East Los Angeles Women’s Center to help break the cycle.

“The main focus of our group is to be able to spread awareness on what domestic violence is, especially for teenagers because it’s the time they start to date,” said the youth advocate. “It’s important that we show what the signs of an unhealthy relationship are and how to have healthy relationships.”

The group of organizers meet weekly to plan for their workshops at local schools or at conferences. Through slides and role-playing activities, they present on what is consent and on spotting signs of an unhealthy relationship.

The youth group is no exception to the coronavirus pandemic. They have been forced to move their activity online. While her outreach has been certainly limited, her work is more crucial than ever since domestic violence has likely increased due to stay-at-home orders.

“I think it’s important for young teens to know exactly what intimate partner violence is because, unfortunately, many have passed away due to this.”

Last year, Emily and her colleagues created a Dia de los Muertos altar, a Mexican tradition to honor those who have died. But instead of family members, the group honored those who had been killed by intimate partner violence.

According to the CDC, U.S. crime reports suggest that about 1 in 5 homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner and more than half of female homicide victims are killed by a current or former male intimate partner.

“Domestic violence is an epidemic that we’re going through,” Emily added. “It’s important for them to understand how to save themselves from these relationships.”

Their primary way of reaching their target audience is through their Instagram @elawcyouth, where they post advice, promotions and resources.

“I know it can be hard, I know it can be scary,” says Emily, but she encourages those in toxic relationships to leave these situations and seek help.

AR Experience
Experience Emily and her colleagues’ Dia de los Muertos altar through this augmented reality Snapchat Lens. Get the lens.

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