October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and serves as a way to unite advocates around the country in their efforts to end domestic violence.
Rebekah Morgan, a domestic violence survivor who lives right here in Tualatin, reached out to Tualatin Life to share her story because “my story connects domestic violence, housing instability and affordable childcare, three critical issues facing families in Oregon,” she said. “My children and I are in crisis, and I believe our story shows serious gaps in how Oregon systems respond to survivors of long-term control and intimate terrorism.”
Rebekah met her ex-husband 20 years ago at a Starbucks in Orange County, California, where she was running a large in-home daycare. She had two “tween-agers,” and together they adopted a baby from foster care, now a proud recent graduate of Portland Community College’s Yes to College program, got married in 2012 and had another son, now 13.
The family moved around a lot before becoming homeless. They moved to Las Vegas to live with her dad, where they also had extended family, until he passed away. After his death, her ex-husband promised a better life and better schools in Oregon, so they moved there next.
“I found out he was cheating on me the whole time, there were lots of them,” Rebekah said. “I got blamed for everything. Everything was on me. He called me crazy and called me names, and it got physical from there.
“We became homeless again, and we were living in a motel. I was having an emotionally tough time and I was on the floor, and he slapped me across the face. At one point, I considered leaving him, but I chickened out.”
In 2016, Rebekah sustained a shoulder injury related to a flu vaccination and later received compensation through the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in September 2020. She used some of the money to buy furniture and clothing for the family and thought their lives were on an upward track.
“My husband got more distant and reactive, but when you’re so close to it, you can’t see the situation for what it really is,” Rebekah said. “We were living in Bethany and fought all the time. It got ugly, and he strangled me a couple times. He would start a fight and then run into the children’s room and blame me.
“When I came in, he pushed me so hard I hit the back of my head on a door jam, and I couldn’t stand up. He strangled me against the wall in front of the children and dragged me down the hall. Three years ago, we were homeless again and living in a tent in a campground. We bought wood for a fire to keep warm, and I couldn’t believe how expensive wood is.”
Rebekah has asthma, and the wildfire smoke made her so sick she had to go to the emergency room. With no family or local support, she turned to her Facebook community for help covering motel stays in October 2022 until space became available at the Community Action Family Shelter in Hillsboro in November. Their housing navigator got them connected with the Washington County Rapid Rehousing program that provides short-term rental assistance help along with security deposits and first month’s rent.
The family moved to an apartment complex in Tualatin and finally felt stable for the first time in a long time. Rebekah had felt isolated for so long and not having a car, she learned how to use the bus system and ventured out into the world. She started an “adorable” licensed childcare business, Sweet Peas Daycare, in her apartment, looking into daycare subsidies to keep it affordable for her clients.
“I pitched my advertising to low-income families and ran it like Head Start, providing meals and teaching the kids safety and other lessons,” Rebekah said. “There was no TV, and we went on the trails in Tualatin and to the library and other places.”
But the domestic violence continued. In early December 2024, after Rebekah told her husband she wanted a divorce, he retaliated by filing a false domestic violence complaint against her. During that time, he admitted to using pornography to provoke a reaction from her and to assert control. That was the final straw. Rebekah told him if he wasn’t out by 10 a.m. on December 5, she would call the police, and he left that morning.
She filed for divorce on December 25, 2024, and the case was finalized on September 25, 2025. Rebekah later got her children into therapy, and their therapists reported the history of domestic violence to police. Her ex-husband was arrested in February 2025 and charged with five felony counts of domestic abuse, including strangulation, although three were dismissed due to the statute of limitations. He is currently living in a homeless shelter and is scheduled to go on trial in December 2025.
“Living in survival mode while preparing for that reality has been traumatizing and overwhelming,” Rebekah said.
Due to unsafe structural conditions in her apartment and her husband’s actions that led to a criminal no-contact order, Rebekah had to close her licensed daycare. “The families said they didn’t blame me,” she said.
Her daycare license is coming up for renewal, but she might not be able to stay in her apartment much longer; however, she would love to start a new daycare if she could find the right affordable location.
During the last couple of years, Rebekah got involved in the community, doing 25 hours of training to earn a certificate from Tualatin’s CERT program (Community Emergency Response Team). She also served for two years on Tualatin’s IDEA Advisory Committee that promotes inclusion, diversity, equity and access in the city. She authored a proclamation that was adopted by the Tualatin City Council on Sept. 23, 2024, and signed by Mayor Frank Bubenik declaring Oct. 10, 2024, as Affordable Housing and Quality Child Care Day.
Currently enrolled in mediation training with Clackamas County, Rebekah hopes that if she can’t open another daycare that she can begin a new career in conflict resolution.
And she hopes that if people hear her story, “it could raise awareness about the ongoing danger survivors face after leaving their abusers and how critical reform and coordinated support truly are.”
