She has since remarried and she's volunteering for a domestic-violence shelter herself now.

Ideally, we'd want to work ourselves out of business. There will always be some people who need help. But, ultimately, we want to work to see the numbers going down.

I like the fundraising and the advocacy and meeting with people in the community or the county and City Council people — I think I'm a good connector of people.

They were financially in trouble at the time — I didn't realize how much when they hired me. In my mind, the problem was that we needed to let the managers do their jobs, and look to the community and government for fundraising.

Police officers, firefighters, EMTs - they are all out there every single day - literally just a phone call away for anyone who needs them.

Sadly, I haven't been able to find my earliest stories, but the impact of being told by someone important to me that I could do something special is immeasurable.