Zahra was just 16 when she got married, too young to predict what was ahead. At 20, she moved to America with her husband, leaving behind everything she knew. In a new country, he was her only connection. Soon after, they welcomed a son. Over the years, her husband became increasingly emotionally and financially abusive. Little by little, he took control of her decisions and her sense of who she was.
Through it all, Zahra held onto one thing that was hers: school. She was working hard toward her nursing degree, and every class brought her closer to the career she had dreamed of.
Then, in another attempt to maintain control, her husband kept her from taking her final exam, taking away the one thing she had built for herself. That was the final straw. She took her son, Benji, and left with no support system and nowhere to go.
Desperate for a safe place, Zahra came to Good Sam asking for help. The answer was four words she’ll never forget: “You can come tomorrow.”
Her new home at Good Sam was a single room. “That room meant more than a million dollars to me,” she says.
The other women living in the house welcomed her like an old friend. As they shared their stories, she realized for the first time in a long time that she wasn’t alone. She had found community, and many of those women are still her friends today.
When Zahra first sat down with her case manager, she was starting from nothing. Together, they filled an entire page with goals: find a full-time job, secure childcare, build income, learn to budget, and, someday, return to nursing school and rent a home of her own.
Zahra kept moving. Within two weeks, she had landed the first full-time job of her life at a bakery, then picked up a part-time hostessing job on top of it. By her third week, she had secured childcare for Benji at a center just down the street.
With every goal she checked off, she rediscovered something she had lost over the years: confidence in herself and in what she could do on her own.
Two months after arriving at Good Sam, Zahra unlocked the door to her very own apartment. She had reached the biggest goal she had written down on her very first day.
Today, her apartment is filled with thriving plants and book-lined shelves. Benji has a room of his own, and he’s learning to play piano on a small keyboard. In the evenings, the two of them sit in the living room and play together. Zahra says Benji is happier and more social than ever.
And this fall, Zahra is back in nursing school, once again pursuing her dream of becoming a labor and delivery nurse. Her hopes for the future are simple: graduate, give Benji the best future possible, and one day watch him go to college and build a successful life of his own.
Zahra admits she has never been someone who likes asking for help. But she’s so glad she did, and she hopes her story gives courage and hope to others in similar situations.
Her message to them: believe in yourself. You can do this.
“When someone opens a door,” she says, “you just want to jump through it.”
