ACTION • INTERVENTION • PREVENTION

BEFORE ANOTHER MOTHER TAKES THE LIFE OF HER CHILD.

More than two decades ago, research cited by Troubled Women reported that approximately every three days in America, a mother took the life of her child.

The headlines have never stopped.

WE DON'T WANT TO READ THE NEXT STORY.
WE WANT TO HELP PREVENT IT.

The Troubled Women Mission

What If We Could Reach Her Before She Reaches the Point of No Return?

We are not searching for troubled women to rescue.

We are searching for women in trouble to embrace— before it's too late.

Behind every headline is a mother. A child. A family. And a human story that reached a place no one believed it would reach.

Troubled Women exists to search for better answers: to recognize crisis earlier, understand more deeply, connect people with appropriate help and resources, and encourage human beings to stay involved when someone desperately needs someone who will stay.

Look Earlier. Look Deeper.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE HUMAN SOUL BEFORE THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENS?

“Those whose souls are murdered, murder.”

— Alice Miller

Alice Miller's work challenged society to look beneath destructive behavior toward childhood wounds, suppressed suffering, abuse, humiliation, and the unseen experiences that can shape a human life.

Not every wounded child becomes a troubled adult. Not every troubled adult becomes violent. But childhood wounds do not become unimportant simply because a child grows older.

Prevention cannot begin only after the crime, the headline, the courtroom, or the funeral.

From Judgment to Action

WE NEED BETTER QUESTIONS.

SOCIETY ASKS

“What did she do?”

UNDERSTANDING ASKS

“What happened to her?”

TROUBLED WOMEN ASKS

“What can we do before it's too late?”

The Reality

THESE AREN'T JUST STATISTICS.
THESE WERE FAMILIES.

These are examples of headlines historically collected by Troubled Women from newspaper coverage of mothers, children, abuse, violence, crisis, and unimaginable loss. They are preserved here not for shock or sensationalism, but because behind every headline was a human life.

Actual Historical Newspaper Headlines Collected by Troubled Women

Mother Kills Daughter, Herself

Mother Kills to Protect Her Child from Sexual Abuse Mother Kills Self and Three Daughters

Mother Kills Kids with Baseball Bat, Then Attempts Suicide

Mother Kills 4-Year-Old Mother Kills Daughter at Fourth Attempt

Mother Charged with Killing Her Baby

Mother Kills Child for “Not Listening” Mother Kills Two Sons, Commits Suicide

Mother Kills Kids in Tub Then Shoots Herself

Children Watch as Father Kills Mother

Mother Kills Daughter with Salt Child Forced to Eat Salt as Punishment

Woman Kills Her Mother, Pastor, Self at Church in Atlanta Mother Kills Two-Year-Old Child

Mother Punches, Kills Crying Baby in Polk County, Fla.

Mother of Two Kills Her Four-Year-Old Son with Shotgun

Mom Killed Kids, Self Husband Hospitalized After Shooting Mother Says Spider Was “Sign” to Drown Kids

“Searching for answers on mothers who kill.”

The original Troubled Women site cited a 2003 newspaper story reporting that an American mother killed her child at a rate of approximately once every three days.

Michelle Oberman, identified in that coverage as a legal scholar and expert on women who kill their offspring, was quoted as saying that such cases were patterned and predictable—and that society often did not want to confront what was already known.

Historical reference preserved from the original Troubled Women website: April 9, 2003, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio.

We Remember

THE CHILDREN WHO DIED AT THE HANDS OF THEIR OWN MOTHERS

They were not statistics. They had names, ages, birthdays, families, and futures.

This historical memorial was created by Troubled Women to remember children whose lives were lost.

In Their Memory

Kyle Venter – 4 years • Dana Polanco – 2 years • Noah Yates – 7 years • John Yates – 5 years • Luke Yates – 3 years • Paul Yates – 2 years • Mary Yates – 6 months • John Ledvina – 8 years • Rofayda Qaoud – 17 years • Hailey Moniz – 8 years • Amore Potgieter – 9 years • Jade Potgieter – 5 years • Kayla Potgieter – 5 years • Phillip Ewing – 8 years • Julie Ewing – 4 years • Da'Jhanae Davis – 4 years • Jesse Jones – 8 years • Tessa Jones – 4 years • Shiv Behera – 5 years • Bangirl Behera – 3 years • Destiny Daniels – 2 months • Kyohei Rikihisa – 3 years • Anna Vorase – 1 year • Olivia Vorase – 3 months • Kateland Titsworth – 2 years • De'Anna Gilbert – 1 month • Liberty Battaglia – 6 years • Faith Battaglia – 9 years • Gabriel Amaya – 5 months • Grace Headlee – 9 years • Anthony Garcia – 2 years • Cecelia Garcia – 4 years • Vanessa Garcia – 6 years • Jonathan Garcia – 6 years • Brenda Garcia – 10 years • Alissa Bryant – 9 years • Ashley Bryant – 10 years • Ethan Bryant – 12 years • Clayton Bryant – 15 years • Madison Longo – 1 year • Sadie Longo – 3 years • Zachary Longo – 4 years • Alana Anne Dieter – 9 years • Alex Smith – 1 year • Michael Smith – 3 years

This is why prevention matters.

Before the Headline

BEFORE WE CONDEMN HER,
CAN WE FIND HER?

Understanding suffering does not mean excusing violence. Responsibility matters. The safety and lives of children matter.

And so does reaching a human being before suffering, isolation, abuse, mental-health crisis, desperation, or circumstances become irreversible tragedy.

Find Her. Hear Her. Embrace Her. Help Her.
Before It's Too Late.

More Than Two Decades of Staying

THIS WORK BEGAN WITH ONE WOMAN.

In 2002, Fred DeFalco was asked whether he could help a woman prepare for a lengthy prison sentence following the death of her child. His earlier work within prison systems made him someone others believed might understand the road ahead.

What began as one request became a relationship spanning more than two decades.

Her privacy remains her own. Today, she continues rebuilding her life and works quietly behind the scenes with Fred and Troubled Women.

That experience reinforced a principle that has shaped this work: programs matter, professionals matter, resources matter, advocacy matters—but human presence matters too.

Sometimes the missing ingredient is simply someone willing to stay.

A Simple Human Truth

SOMETIMES HELPING BEGINS BY HOLDING SOMEONE'S HAND.

“No matter what we do in life, no matter what we do for anyone, sometimes it's really all about hand-holding. No one has anybody to hold their hand.”

Troubled Women believes no system, diagnosis, program, professional discipline, or institution can replace the importance of human connection.

Sometimes a woman does not need someone to rescue her. She needs someone willing to see her, hear her, help her find the next step—and stay long enough for that next step to matter.

Action • Intervention • Prevention

WE DON'T HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE NEXT STORY.

THE CHILDREN DESERVE TO LIVE.
THE WOMEN DESERVE TO BE REACHED.
THE FAMILIES DESERVE OUR ACTION— BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

Troubled Women is not about judgment. It is not about excusing the inexcusable. And it is not about waiting until tragedy occurs to ask what went wrong.

It is about searching earlier, listening sooner, understanding more deeply, finding resources, connecting people, challenging systems, encouraging responsibility, and taking action while action can still make a difference.

For Women & Families Everywhere

WHEREVER YOU ARE, TAKE THE NEXT STEP.

Troubled Women is intended for women, families, professionals, communities, and those who care about them throughout the world. You do not have to contact us to begin finding help.

IN THE UNITED STATES

If there is immediate danger, call 911. For suicide or mental-health crisis support, call or text 988. If you don't know where to begin, 211 can help connect you with many local health and human-service resources.

OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES

If someone is in immediate danger, contact the emergency services available in your country. Local mental-health, domestic-violence, child-protection, family-support, housing, and community-service organizations may also provide immediate or specialized assistance.

Troubled Women and Encouragement Enterprises International are not emergency-response services. If you believe a child, woman, family member, or anyone else is in immediate danger, please seek appropriate emergency assistance where you live.

One Mission • One Institutional Home

WHAT ROLE CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE THE NEXT STORY IS WRITTEN?

Maybe you are here because you need help. Maybe you are concerned about someone. Maybe you are a professional with expertise. Maybe you have resources, relationships, funding, experience, or simply a heart for this work.

SEEK HELP • VOLUNTEER • COLLABORATE • PROVIDE RESOURCES • SUPPORT THE WORK • HELP LEAD THE INITIATIVE

Whatever brought you here, the next doorway is Encouragement Enterprises International.

Troubled Women is an initiative of
Encouragement Enterprises International, Inc.
A 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Nonprofit Organization • Established 1989

CONTINUE WITH ENCOURAGEMENT ENTERPRISES →

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