Both, they agreed, had been badly damaged by different ways in households where secrets sometimes became more important than safety and sanity.

“I honestly thought every teen cried herself to sleep at night,” Luise said. “But when I got to college and finally opened up to friends, it became clear that things had gone terribly wrong in my home. It had just been my normal.”

As their friendship deepened, Luise and Babul discovered they had more in common than initially thought. They resolved to do what they could to stop the cycle and create a sisterhood that would bring healing to other women and empower them to move from victim to victor.

“The Fatherless Daughter Project” is the result.

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Tracy Woodard from InTown Cares (left) and Lauren Hopper from Mercy Care organization work with residents at the Copperton Street encampment in August 2024. 
(Miguel Martinez / AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez