Pampered for a Day, Abused Women Get New Looks, Hope

In grocery stores, Christine’s function was to push the cart. If she put an item in the cart without the permission of her boyfriend of 13 years, he would throw it out.

In private, the abuse heaped upon Christine was even greater. He called her fat and ugly. He drove her to remote places and abandoned her. He hit her.

“That was my life then,” she said.

But that was before she finally sought refuge at a south Orange County women’s shelter, and participated in a one-day program aimed at enhancing the self-esteem of abused women by offering them a range of personal beauty services and career counseling.

“It really helped me to feel special, to feel that I could be pretty again,” said Christine of the event called Day of Self Esteem held at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Newport Beach.

On Saturday, volunteers like Christine, who just a year ago was on the receiving end of the generosity, helped treat about 225 women from 18 shelters in Los Angeles and Orange counties to salon haircuts, manicures, make-overs and their choice of up to eight business outfits, shoes and accessories. Later in the day, the women attended a job fair.

“Although we have only three or four hours to work on their outside, there is some magical transformation that occurs on the inside,” said Irvine businesswoman Jerri Rosen, 50, head of Working Wardrobes, the nonprofit group that organizes the event. “They have a lot of work to do, a lot of healing to do, but this lets them know that maybe there is a different way to live.”

About 60,000 women in Orange County are emotionally or physically abused each year, according to Working Wardrobes.

It’s with mixed feelings that Rosen notes the number of women participating in the group’s program has tripled since its founding.

“We aren’t excited there are more women here than ever,” Rosen said. “But we are glad we are reaching more that need help.”

The program’s reach Saturday extended to Carmen, who after 15 years in an on-and-off abusive relationship with the father of her 9-year-old son realized it was time to move on. Five months removed from the relationship, Carmen delighted in the warmth of the day.

“To be pampered like this, not to have to worry about the kids, and to know someone really cares, it’s fabulous,” said Carmen, whose former boyfriend forced her to quit her job.

The Day of Self Esteem cost about $3,000 and took nearly six months to plan, organizers said.

For Nora Kelley, another graduate of the program who returned Saturday as a volunteer, the day was a long way from the night two years ago when she ran out of her south Orange County home screaming for someone to call the police.

“They made me feel maybe I am pretty, maybe I am smart, maybe I am capable,” said Kelley, 43, wearing one of the dresses she picked from the racks of donated clothes two years ago. “It really gave me a snapshot of another life.”

For Christine, the program proved essential on her road to recovery, including navigating the aisles at the grocery store.

“I throw what I want in the cart now,” she said.