(Note: Client names in this article have been changed at their request to protect their privacy.)

Sally Abernathy had just about given up hope getting help for her daughter, Betsy, when Sally's call to a local help-line resulted in a referral to Help Now! Sally herself is disabled—she gets around with a walker because of a spinal condition, and she has bipolar disorder.

“I've got depression like you wouldn't believe. My difficulties with Betsy can set it off,” Sally explains.

The 28 year-old Betsy has multiple sclerosis and is diabetic. She also has a fear of leaving the family's Medford mobile home, and her home-bound existence has taken its toll on her physical and mental health.

Sally does not own a car so the possibilities for providing social interactions for her daughter are limited.

Private help for her daughter is out of the question, as Sally's very limited income is from social security disability payments. She tried government mental health programs, but Betsy felt uncomfortable in group settings, especially in those with men.

When Help Now! advocate Eric Wood first spoke with Sally, he suspected something more was involved than Sally's simple request for help.

"On the first call, she said that Betsy needed a companion, someone to drive her around, to get her ‘out of her shell.' On the next call, I learned Betsy had been sexually abused multiple times as a teenager,” Wood says.

Beginning at age 14, Betsy had been the victim of repeated sexual assaults by a man known to, and trusted by, her mother and father. The man threatened to kill Betsy if she told anyone. When the parents finally discovered the situation, they reported the situation to local law enforcement. Because of a lack of evidence at that time, the man was never prosecuted.

Feeling unsafe, Sally and her husband left Portland and moved to Medford. She and her then-husband have since divorced.

Wood suspected that the best course of action was to secure the help of a female psychologist or social worker whom Betsy might be able to trust, and who would be willing to make house visits to sidestep the young woman's agoraphobia.

After numerous phone calls, Wood located Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) Nan Gunderson. Checks by Help Now! on Ms. Gunderson's professional reputation revealed that she not only is well regarded as a mental health clinician but that she also has worked with others afflicted by Multiple Sclerosis. Wood persuaded Ms. Gunderson to work with Betsy on a limited fee basis and go to Betsy's home, if necessary, for treatment.

After several initial sessions by telephone, Sally has begun to notice a change in her daughter. “Betsy seems more relaxed now,” Sally says. “This is the best thing that has ever happened to the two of us. I now have hope.”

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