ANDERSON — Necole Young-Boyd finally reached her breaking point.

After surviving childhood abuse, she endured another 20 years of abuse at the hand of her husband.

Finding no comfort in alcohol or drugs, she finally hit rock bottom and landed at Dove Harbor, a transitional shelter for women.

“I just got tired,” she said while sitting in the communal living room in what was once the North Anderson Church of God on Broadway. “You can only take so much. My life just got totally out of control. I knew I had to make a change or I was going to lose my life.”

Welcoming Young-Boyd into the fold, the staff at Dove Harbor began showing her how to regain control of her circumstances and her future.

“Before I came here, I didn’t know how to love myself,” she said. “All my life I felt like I was nobody. And had no direction. Here they teach us about God — that’s where most of my strength comes from.

“They taught me about love and how to choose healthy people in your life — because I was bad at doing that, too.”

Nine months later, on March 18, 2008, Young-Boyd graduated Dove Harbor’s program. By applying the lessons she learned during her stay, her life has been completely transformed into something wonderful.

“Now I don’t have any negative people in my life — they are all positive,” she said with a big smile. “I’ve grown up since I came here. I got remarried on Feb. 22 and I picked a good husband this time. He’s kind and supportive. He’s even dieting with me and he doesn’t need to lose weight. We’re just perfect for each other.”

Walking alongside

Dove Harbor is a women and children’s transitional shelter, which means clients are able to reside for six months to a year to allow them ample time to get back on their feet. Emergency shelters are only able to house women for 30 to 45 days.

Three members of Madison Park Church of God (then North Anderson Church of God), Kerrin Kahaleh, Susan Thomas and Susan Hall, began the mission in 1983.

Originally operating out of a home, the organization has now served more than 250 families. Madison Park continues to cover 40 percent of Dove Harbor’s costs, while fundraising efforts and donations comprise the rest.

“The women that began this effort were able to identify that it’s not needed for just one reason,” said Johnna Barnard, Director of Resource Development. “They realized that the women needed a time frame with someone walking along side them and making some changes. To make it where they are not cycling back into poverty and the emergency shelters, they really needed to make a long term change and needed a long term program.”

Some of the women are single mothers who just can’t make ends meet while others are escaping abusive situations. Some are fighting addictions and others are facing homelessness.