“My children were removed from me,” Delia looks back. “It wasn’t an easy process, but it was about taking the opportunity to learn from this experience. When we’re going through the situation, it’s disheartening. So I had to learn a new way to do things differently and to break the cycle of abuse.”

After Delia’s children were taken from her, she developed her own mission statement: to share her story. Delia doesn’t want to hold onto resentment, instead, she wants to find direction. To find a way to help her own child. In order to mend their relationship, she’s in recovery with the Parent’s in Partnership (PiP) program at DCFS.

Through PiP’s, Delia’s taken classes to find a new way to parent without physical discipline. She’s learning tools to better communicate with her children and benefit their lives.

“To be very honest, losing my children caused me to grieve at that time. I was doing my best to be strong but there were family losses in the past year, and challenges of having a parent who was mentally ill. All while doing what the court required me do. Visitation was important. Even during the time of putting myself through school to become a MA. I utilized that time without my children to stay busy and focused. There were moments, where they were better off without me. They still showed me love, even though we were separated at the time and they were in three different foster homes.”

Delia came across an opportunity for employment and has been on the fast road to recovery since. Having an open case and being able to share that experience with people in the same situation with PiPs helps families bring down that wall.