Who We Are

I became a survivor long before I ever had the words for it.

At fourteen, I was groomed by a twenty-one-year-old man who would later become my husband. For twenty-four years I carried the weight of infidelity, financial abuse, manipulation, and silence — all while raising children, working as a nurse, and doing everything I could to hold a life together.

I rebuilt myself over and over again:

from nursing, to catastrophe cleanup, to plumbing, to launching my own cleaning company. I looked strong on the outside, but inside I was surviving, not living.

It wasn’t until I was forty — eighteen years after the abuse had ended — that I finally said out loud, “I was a victim.” That moment of truth cracked everything open. And when an accident in 2023 led to the painful loss of communication with my children, it became the turning point.

If they never speak to me again, I want them to know this: I used my pain to build something that heals others.

That is how The Stronghold Project was born.

We exist so survivors never have to rebuild alone.

We offer trauma-informed support, crisis resources, emotional safety, and — just as important — the tools to rebuild a stable, independent life.

Because healing isn’t only emotional.

It’s financial.

It’s generational.

Through The Stronghold Project, survivors gain access to therapy pathways, financial education, emergency supports, and paid workforce training — including apprenticeships that create real earning power and long-term stability.

I rebuilt my life from nothing more than grit and hope. Now I’m building a place where survivors can do the same — stronger, supported, and never alone.

— Kelli Williams, Founder