7-Year-Old Living In Domestic Violence Shelter Writes Heartbreaking Santa Letter
The little boy asked Santa for ‘a very very very good dad’ among other things
A 7-year-old boy living in a Texas domestic violence shelter with his mom is breaking hearts across social media with his letter to Santa Claus. His mom initially found the letter in his backpack, and it struck such a nerve that the shelter where they’re staying posted the letter to their Facebook page.
In his letter to Santa, Blake says he’s nervous to talk to the other kids at the shelter. He also asks Santa for a “very very very good dad,” chapter books, a dictionary, a compass, and a watch.
The heartbreaking letter sheds light on some of the trauma Blake has endured:
Dear Santa,
We had to leave our house. Dad was mad. We had to do all the chores. Dad got everything he wanted. Mom said it was time to leave and she would take us to a safer place where we don’t have to be scared. I’m still nervous. I don’t want to talk to the other kids. Are you going to come this Christmas? We don’t have any of our stuff here. Can you bring some chapter books, a dictionary, and a compass and a watch? I also want a very very very good dad. Can you do that too?
Love, Blake
SafeHaven is a shelter for domestic violence victims and, according to the post, 117 women and children are residing at the shelter this holiday season. SafeHaven tells Scary Mommy that Blake will be receiving all the gifts he asked Santa for this Christmas thanks to donations.
“We never anticipated it would get the kind of attention that it has gotten,” Kathryn Jacob, the president and CEO of the non-profit shelter says. “If people in the community would like to help, we would encourage them to either make a financial donation on our website safehaventc.org or providing items off our monthly immediate needs list which can be found on our Amazon list.” If you want to help residents of Safe Haven, you can purchase items from their list here.
Jacob tells TODAY that Blake’s story isn’t unusual in her line of work. “To us, it was kind of a story that we’ve heard all the time,” she says. “Like tonight, we have 73 kids in the shelter. So Blake is just one of many.”
She says many survivors of domestic violence reached out to the shelter in response to the post. “One in three women in Texas will experience domestic violence in their lifetime,” she explains. “Even though we inherently know that, what has been remarkable to us is the number of women commenting on those stories saying they can relate.”
Safe Haven says the safety of their clients is the most important thing to the organization, and that Blake and his mom are now safe.
