Mary was sexually abused as a child, and that pattern of abuse carried through to her adult life. She married a man who abused her verbally and emotionally for a number of years; when the abuse became physical as well, she left and went to Newhouse, an emergency shelter for domestic violence victims. She then lived to a year at Sheffield Place, where she accessed services from the Women's Employment Network and other training programs. Since her graduation from Sheffield Place, Mary has married a man who is non-abusive, they have a daughter, and both Mary and her husband have full-time jobs.

Marie had abused drugs and alcohol for more than 20 years and lived on the street at various times. To support her habit she often worked the streets as a prostitute, leaving her children at home unattended, and one of her children was taken away into foster care. She came to Sheffield Place in 1995. She completed substance abuse treatment and went through vocational rehabilitation. Today, she has been clean and sober for more than six years, and was able to get her child out of foster care. She is married, and she and her husband are both employed and living in their own home with her son. "I grew up at Sheffield Place," Marie often says.