Liz Alley

In 1990, after staying for three months with three of my young children at a battered women's shelter in Southern California, I quickly learned that escaping from abuse is only the beginning. During my journey, I found there was way more to surviving abuse than finding safety for a few months. No one told me how to navigate life now that I was on my own as a single mom, so I decided I wanted to help other women, especially mothers, know they are not alone. 

​

It has taken me nearly thirty years to write "The Road to Big Bear: Safe Refuge." If I had written my story any sooner, it would have had a different ending. Surviving abuse seems to be a never-ending cycle of processing loss, grief, and shame. To make matters worse, most of us cannot return home and are left to rebuild a safe place for our children. All while trying to survive, and this can take years. 

​

While the title "The Road to Big Bear: Safe Refuge" is an illustration of a temporary home for battered women, the real story is about my transition from leaving the shelter without any idea of how to move forward, to becoming someone who did move forward and can now encourage others.  

     

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

Maya Angelou

​Maya Angelou