PONTIAC, Mich. – Jaime Matthews is sharing her story and that of her late daughter to raise awareness and support for HAVEN, a shelter in Oakland County that empowers survivors.
HAVEN offers programs for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. The Oakland County facility provides shelter, counseling, advocacy, and educational programs to nearly 30,000 people each year, helping people across Metro Detroit.
It’s the county’s only 24-hour emergency shelter for domestic violence and sexual assault victims and their children.
Matthews survived the trauma they went through, but 20-year-old Hope Diamond Fessler recently died from decisions and relationships that came out of a domestic violent relationship.
“HAVEN helped me because I was sexually abused as a teenager, and my mom came to HAVEN to give me counseling, and so they helped me get through my trauma,” Matthews recalled. “But as I always say, history kind of repeats itself, and unfortunately, my daughter has gone through sexual abuse, which then made her very vulnerable and as she got older, she found herself in domestic abuse situations.”
Matthews can talk endlessly about HAVEN and how the shelter saved her life 30 years ago and came to the rescue of her daughter.
“On her 18th birthday, I got a call from her. She was hysterical. He had brutally just beat her and then strangled her, and she got away by running down her subdivision street screaming, ‘He’s going to kill me,‘” Matthews recalled.
Hope escaped her situation and was brought to HAVEN.
“What I loved about it was almost like it felt like home,” Matthews said. “There wasn’t, you know, at a hospital where there’s nurses running around, and every five minutes somebody else is coming in the room asking us some questions. My daughter didn’t have to repeat her story. When Hope came back out of there, she was so calm, and it was like she was very empowered.”
They found 55 marks on Hope‘s body and with HAVEN’s help, not only did they do the exam, they gave her a court advocate.
“Women fall into these situations and you don’t know what to do. It’s confusing, more emotional, that advocacy means everything,” Matthews said.
With HAVEN’s help, Hope got a Personal Protection Order, evidence of the abuse and she was strong enough to go to court. Her abuser is now behind bars.
Hope died in 2023 at the age of 20. Police believe it was an overdose, but her mother still has questions about how she died and who she was around at the time. She uses that energy to help HAVEN provide and assist those who escaping abusive situations.
“A mom‘s job is to protect their children and I may not have been able to protect her, but I’m still fighting for her,” Matthews said.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, an average of 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States. That’s more than 12 million women and men over the course of a single year.
Local 4 is teaming up with HAVEN for our “Go 4 It: Living Without Fear” event to collect basic needs for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
You can learn more here: Here’s how to donate to survivors of domestic and sexual violence
We want to honor those making a difference. Click here to nominate someone who’s Going 4 It in your community. We’ll be featuring your nominees every month on Local 4 and ClickOnDetroit.
Thanks to our Go 4 It sponsor partners, Masco, Henry Ford Health, and the Gilbert Family Foundation.