ANDOVER - One young woman struggled raising her children after surviving childhood abuse herself; another is still struggling to overcome issues related to her abusive mother. Both women have been helped by caseworkers at the Greater Lawrence Community Action Council's (GLCAC) Michael B. Christensen Family Support Center.

Yesterday, 240 people attended a breakfast gathering at the Wyndham Hotel and heard each of the women talk about their lives. Susan Mitchell, director of the Family Support Center, introduced both young women.

Jennifer, a young mother of three children, told of her childhood and how she had trouble with her 5-year-old daughter who refused to listen to her. Describing it as "the challenge of my life," Jennifer had found herself unable to discipline the child and sought help from the Family Support Center. She told the gathering her caseworker was a woman experienced in raising children, and who was not judgmental toward her. "When it was time to close my case, I did not want to let go," she tearfully told the gathering.

During her introduction of the second young woman, Mitchell said she came to know the girl because her own daughter had become friends with her. The second young woman told of an abusive mother and alcoholic father, and how she was taken away from her family by state officials three times by the time she was 7. The abuse continued until one morning at 4, when the girl was 15. Deciding she could not take any more abuse, she ran from her home in her nightgown, shoeless, and clutching a teddy bear. She called Mitchell from around the corner, Mitchell went and got her, and the girl became part of Mitchell's family.

"Every day I was yelled at. I had to clean my brothers' rooms and cook when they were hungry," she said. "Living with Sue was different. As long as I was going to school and got good grades, that's all she asked," the woman said. Ultimately, she graduated from high school and was accepted to a college in New York. But during her first semester she suffered a bout of depression, her grades suffered, and she lost her financial aid. Back in this area, she is working two jobs to pay back the $10,000 she owed on her student loans.

She has not given up her dream of a college education.

"I can't wait to get back to college," she said. And she credited the center with helping her along the way. "They helped me and if not for them, I probably would not be making anything of myself," she said.

Both women received standing ovations from the audience.

"It's not often that I am at a loss for words," said State Sen. Steven Baddour, guest speaker for the event, as he took the podium after the two women. He said the stories of the two women and their fight to overcome bad circumstances were inspirational. And they reminded him of a decision he made not to seek higher elective office. Mulling a run for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan, Baddour said his wife wanted him to run, and everyone said he could win the election.

But he recognized the importance of his presence to his daughters." I didn't want to spend five or six days away from my girls," he said. "Anyone can be a member of Congress, but at the end of the day, I am the only one who can be a father to my two girls."

During the event, Philip Laverriere Sr., executive director and CEO of the GLCAC, presented Mitchell with a plaque, honoring her work for the center and with the 186 families the center now serves. "Without my staff, none of this could be possible," an emotional Mitchell told the gathering.