Elmhurst woman reaches out to fellow abuse victims

Overcoming the darkest moments of her life has been a motivating factor for Vanessa Luquin.

The Elmhurst woman says she once was abused by her then-husband, but has turned her past pain into a reason to help shelters for victims of domestic violence.

She's organized a toy drive and collected books for a new charter school library, but after recently making her first donation of hygiene items to a shelter serving victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, Luquin said that type of charity work is where her heart lies.

“I want to help women in distress,” said Luquin, 35. “I know when you're in that position, you're helpless. You feel lonely and you feel scared and more when you have kids, you feel like you're worthless.”

Luquin had just left her native Mexico after finishing medical school to join her husband, a U.S. citizen living in Chicago when the abuse began. She didn't know much about life in her new home, but she knew her situation wasn't OK.

When the abuse became physical and injured Luquin, police officers asked questions and filed reports in English, a language she didn't yet understand. It was 2006, and she had nowhere to go.

“I don't even remember very much because I didn't know the language,” said Luquin, who now speaks fluent English with just a hint of an accent. “Things just happened.”

Emergency responders took Luquin and her three children to a shelter for victims of domestic violence somewhere in Chicago, but she's unsure exactly where.

It's a phase of her life she doesn't talk about often — even to people like Michelle Meyer, executive director of Mutual Ground, the Aurora shelter to which Luquin recently donated shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, toothpaste and other hygiene items

“I said when I'm in a better place, I would like to help people,” Luquin said. “When I'm doing better, I'm going to do collections, I'm going to donate to shelters. I'm going to do all the stuff to help women like me.”

At Mutual Ground, staff members and the people they serve are grateful for the donation, Meyer said. The shelter provides free and confidential services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and serves up to 1,600 people a year.

“Vanessa's donation was amazing because it was a lot of items we need to run this large household we're running here,” Meyer said. “It's really helpful when people bring those things over. We can stock up without buying it and we can use (our money) for other programming.”

Getting to the point where she could make a such donation took Luquin six years, a handful of odd jobs and the pro-bono assistance of a lawyer who helped her file for and receive legal permanent residency documents.

But above all that, it took determination, said Dr. Ivan Lopez, who runs Prohealth Medical Center in Aurora, where Luquin works part-time doing marketing.

“She's very determined,” Lopez said. “When she has an idea in her mind, no matter what, she's going to pursue it.”

When she was living in the Chicago shelter, Luquin got the idea that she needed to do more for her children, who are now 19, 16 and 14 years old.

“I didn't have anything to offer to my kids,” Luquin said.

She needed housing, English skills and money. Fast.

“She's a tough person,” Lopez said. “Life made her tough.”

She found housing first in Bensenville, then in Elmhurst.

English skills she gained in about six months by taking classes at Olive-Harvey College in Chicago, which were offered to her free after police got involved in her case.

And money?

“I was cutting hair, cleaning a salon, doing everything I could do,” Luquin said.

Later, she got a job at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, where she still works part-time. She revived her medical skills with classes in how to be a phlebotomist and medical assistant. She's even done some modeling for print and TV ads to supplement her income.

“I mean, I'm not rich,” Luquin said. “I still struggle. But I'm in a better position than I was years ago.”

Working at Lopez's clinic in Aurora, Luquin said she sees many Hispanic women in the community who may need the same assistance she once needed to overcome an abusive situation, establish legal residency, or gain English skills, housing and employment.

That's why she got involved with Mutual Ground. She said she wants Aurora's Hispanic women to know the shelter is there, offering a place to take a hot shower if home water service has been shut off, pick up warm clothing for children, or receive counseling for emotional or physical abuse.

“She's made an amazing impact on me because she has been so vocal about her passion for helping domestic violence victims,” Mutual Ground's Meyer said. “She has been an ambassador for us — talked to other people, gotten other agencies involved.”

Talking about her path to overcoming an abusive relationship and a lack of English skills, Luquin's expression hardens and her eyes mist over.

But her smile returns when she discusses her future plans to continue helping survivors of domestic abuse “until I don't have any resources to do it.”

“I've seen her in bad situations and she's always positive, always smiling — it's contagious,” Lopez said. “She expands happiness around you.”