Her father used to beat up on her mom. When Strathaus was 15, she met her future husband and the abuse began. Five years later, she was married. The violence continued and continued. It didn't stop until her oldest of four children convinced her to seek help. "I never felt there was life out there," Strathaus said. "I thank God every day I met these people." Strathaus was one of the featured speakers during Monday night's fifth annual candlelight vigil hosted by Turning Point, a women's shelter located in Warren County. Victims of domestic violence and supporters walked down Booneslick and finished at the Warren County Courthouse to celebrate National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. During Strathaus' time with her abuser, she began experimenting with drugs. Upon leaving Turning Point for the first time, she fell back into old habits and again began using drugs to escape from her troubles. At one point, all four of her children were living with their grandmother. Turning Point re-entered Strathaus' life and welcomed her back with open arms. Strathaus now has her children back and a successful career as an assistant manager at a local gas station. "They helped me when nobody else would. I had nowhere to go," she said. "I didn't think there was a place out there. That was the reason I stayed in my situation as long as I did. "I know eventually one of these days he would have killed me." Offering services such as support groups, community education and counseling, Turning Point is a safe haven for women and their children from Warren County and surrounding counties. The shelter opened in 1994 in a small, donated apartment with two part-time staff members treating around 30 victims. Fourteen years later, the staff now includes four full-time workers and five part-time employees looking over a 28-bed facility. Last year, Turning Point helped 406 women and children, said donation/volunteer coordinator Debbie Napier, herself a 22-year survivor of domestic violence. Napier remembers the torment of having two children kidnapped and the torture of waking up with an electrical cord around her neck. "It's real important for survivors to speak out," Napier said. "Most women who are in domestic violence relationships do not believe there is a way out." Strathaus is living proof you can escape. "I am no longer a victim, I am a survivor," Strathaus confidently told the crowd.