A lady who has overcome many hurdles of lost identity, emotional and physical abuse from family, friends and the church.
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"I have never gone to a woman’s group before."
 
"I started coming to this support group at the beginning of this year, not knowing what to expect as I was used to isolation, very shy struggling with a very low self-esteem, living a lonely life inside with a messed up mind believing in lies that I am no one, ugly and unlovable. I really did not like myself and had no confidence in anything; I was very empty and not fulfilled. I had a family at home, but felt lonely. Something was really missing in me as a person."
 
"As I started coming to the women’s sessions it helped me to start to open up to issues that were wrong with me. I started to see that blaming others for what they did to me was not the real issue here. I started to see layers of hurt, resentment, unforgiveness, bitterness and wounds that were in me and I had to come to that place to admit that I am the real issue here. I had not dealt with any of my hurts and wounds and I needed help to surrender and deal with what was going on inside my heart and mind. Our group sessions helped me to see I was not alone. There were other women there struggling with rejection, low self-esteem abuse and battered inside. I was able to see that I can open up and not be afraid to speak of how I felt and be judged by things I did wrong."
 
"The love and comfort I received; being able to cry and pour out my heart and not be judged was a relief of freedom from within. I looked forward to coming to our women’s sessions as I started to believe I belonged somewhere and I was not alone and built a relationship with the other women in the group."
 
"I was someone who never liked to look at myself in a mirror and in one of our sessions we were asked to look at ourselves in a mirror and say something nice about ourselves. That was really hard for me as I couldn’t look at myself in a mirror at the time and say anything nice about myself as all I believed in was, I was fat and ugly."
 
"Through these wonderful sessions today, I Helen Yiacoulas thank God as I can now look at myself in a mirror every day and now I can say ‘wow I am beautiful and I am special and there is only one Helen Yiacoulas who is made in your image.’ This was a massive breakthrough for me as I struggled looking into a mirror for 12 years."
 
"I love the women’s group as it was put together for these reasons.  I am happy that a way was made for me to have been in these sessions and got to know beautiful and wonderful women who has been brought together to be healed."
 
"My encouragement now to every woman that is out there hurting and alone, don’t spend another day in that dark place, come and be free – you are not alone."