Heart-Breaking Letter From 7-Year-Old In Domestic Abuse Shelter Asks Santa For 'A Good Dad'

A heart-breaking from a youngster living in a domestic violence shelter with his mother has gone viral, showing the real difficulties that many children today live with.

The 7-year-old's letter, written from a domestic violence shelter in Texas, asks Santa for a 'good dad. It reads:

"Dear Santa, We had to leave our house. Dad was mad. We had to do all the chores. Dad got everything he wanted. Mom said it was time to leave and she would take us to a safer place where we don't have to be scared. I'm still nervouse [sic]. I don't want to talk to the other kids. Are you going to come this Christmas [sic]? We don't have any of our stuff here. Can you bring some chapter books, a dictionary, and a compass and a watch? I also want a very very very good dad. Can you do that too?"

The shelter shared the letter on Facebook to demonstrate just what so many children were going through and raise awareness of their plight. The letter and true identity of the author was kept anonymous.

Kathryn Jacob, president and CEO of SafeHaven, spoke of the challenges that local families face, saying:

"One in three women in Texas will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Even though we inherently know that, what has been remarkable to us is the number of women commenting on those stories saying they can relate."

The organisation also said that 'Blake', the name given to the author of the letter, and his mother, were now safe and sound.

SafeHaven also carry out a large amount of work delivering presents to vulnerable children who are affected by other issues, such as poverty. Over the course of the last year, they were able to, through the generosity of donors, deliver 10,000 presents to children in need and make sure they had a good and safe Christmas.

According to the Partnership Against Domestic Violence, every 9 seconds, a woman in the U.S. is physically assaulted, and that as many as 1 in 3 American women will suffer some form of domestic abuse in their lifetimes.

[Based on reporting by: Positive Outlooks]