Delilah, 40, contacted Family Service League after being sexually assaulted by her pastor, who convinced her that she could trade sex for spiritual healing. After placing faith in her pastor, Delilah was devastated to learn that he had used and manipulated her.
Delilah has had a difficult time with relationships. Her parents were never married. Her father believed her to be a mistake and asked her mother to terminate the pregnancy. After Delilah was born prematurely, her mother did not believe she could care for her and the infant was placed with a friend. Years later, while in fifth grade, Delilah was returned to her mother’s care — but torn from the only mother she ever knew. As a result, Delilah grew up having a tumultuous relationship with her birth mother that never fully recovered.
When Delilah was older, she began a polygamous relationship with a man and moved to Nevada to be with him. When she got pregnant, her then “sister-wife” became jealous and insisted that she leave the property, forcing Delilah to move back to her mother’s home and raise the child alone. She struggles financially, as she never went to college and cannot seem to meet the demands of raising a child as a single mother.
At Family Service League, Delilah can talk openly about the difficulties of finding a relationship that satisfies her desire to be loved. She is given the opportunity to process the impact of her assault and is empowered to use her voice. Delilah attends her sessions weekly and works diligently to regain control of the light in her life that she once felt was lost.
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