TOLEDO, Ohio — Kayla Rivera is still struggling to get the help she needs after she said she was the victim of domestic violence.
Her ex-boyfriend is charged with aggravated menacing. Rivera said after making calls to the advocates that WTOL 11 connected her with, she was told to prepare for a hard journey.
Now we're giving you an idea of what that hard journey looks like.
"So, I reached out to the YWCA a little over a week ago and nothing has really happened since then," Rivera said.
She attended her first in-person meeting with the YWCA of Northwest Ohio this week and said she was given a new list of resources and their phone numbers.
But she still feels like her life is in danger. She said she can't stay in her own home and now she's missing work to call organizations that may or may not be able to help.
"I need help now, not next month, not two months from now," Rivera said. "You don't know what people are capable of and I'm tired of looking over my shoulder and constantly wondering what's going to happen next."
Rivera feels like she has to rescue herself and leading domestic violence advocates from the YWCA said she's not wrong.
"It's not fair. If you've experienced domestic or sexual violence and you're commenting that, 'That's not fair,' that is very much the paradigm and that's very true. It's not fair," said Rachael Gardner, the YWCA of Northwest Ohio director of victim services.
Gardner said domestic violence victims are one of the only group of victims who are asked to secure their own safety.
And that's not the only problem. Gardner said it's a systematic issue and the resources don't match the demand.
"I think there is a lot of movement in people working together but there's just also such high need, such high prices and then there is some low inventory around some things too," said Gardner. "Waiting list for childcare providers, waiting list for good mental health specialists and councilors, a lack of good quality housing stock in our community."
Rivera said she is moving forward with her kids' best interests in mind.
She hopes her journey pushes the next victim to report the violence and ask for help. She said the wait for resources gets longer the more you put it off.
"I wish I would have gotten out sooner even though I'm doing it now, but I hope my kids know I'm doing this for them and they learn from this," said Rivera. "I don't want my daughter to go through this when she's older."
Tomy Diaz is the suspect in this case.
According to court documents, he told Kayla he was going to kill her and said, 'See what happens next,' while holding a gun.
Diaz pleaded not guilty and has been released from jail after posting bond. The case is set to go to trial in Toledo Municipal Court on Thursday.
The advocates said the quickest way to get survivors resources is for more partnerships to be made throughout Lucas County.
The YWCA director of victim services said resources are given through their partnerships, and with the number of people in need growing, the partnerships should grow as well.
Resource advocates are not alone in wanting to fix the system.
Toledo's chief prosecutor Rebecca Facey specializes in domestic violence cases. She said the legal system hasn't always put the best interest of domestic violence victims first, but she is working to change that.
Since being appointed in January, she has pushed cases forward without the need for victim testimony, and now she is implementing separate and safe victim waiting rooms.
She said her goal is to continue to bring more resources to the court.
"We know that it's not easy to be a victim of domestic violence and to have to tell your story to police and prosecutors and judges and advocates, but it is so important to report these crimes and to hold abusers accountable," said Facey. "We have been able to create the most robust domestic violence unit this city has ever seen with three full-time domestic violence prosecutors handling those cases from beginning to end in our courthouse."
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