Testimonials

During my summer at Day One as a peer leader, I gained valuable insights into healthy relationships, communication, and gender roles. This experience enhanced my confidence in expressing myself and listening to others, while also promoting the importance of respect and support in relationships. I appreciate the guidance from my supervisors, which enriched my growth.

September 24, 2025, started like any other day with him. But it ended with his hands around my throat, squeezing until the world went black. When I woke up, I realized something had finally broken inside me, not my spirit, but my denial. I finally understood: He was going to kill me.

Personally, I was young when I went through my relationship. I was in high school and college, and the only kind of network I had to rely on was myself and my friends, and then I ended up going to a therapist, which was really helpful. So, I think having a place like Day One, where people can come and it’s specifically targeted to young adults is very important.

Day One helped me to build better relationships with people, and to learn how to communicate better. Instead of ignoring problems when I’m having them, I can deal with them within myself, and I have also come to realize that it’s not always just me. There’s always someone that can assist you with what you’re going through.

I believe that every person that Day One has affected, their lives have changed, so they are also going to take this path of healing their own communities. So it’s like a network, and the more we can expand it, the more we can reach out to everyone in need.

If everybody’s informed, then there would be less bigotry and stuff like that. Plus, if they get involved, then you can involve other students, like how I got involved because of my friends. At first, they were not super interested to join the conversation, but by the time we left they were excited about it. I just want Day One to involve a lot more people and grow as an organization. The more information that other students have, the better it will be.

I found out about Day One from the RAPP coordinator, Syd. So I went, and I’ve been having a blast talking about every kind of topic that normally people don’t really talk about. I never really talked about abusive relationships. I feel like this summer, my friends have been like, “Whoa, Klevisa, you’re changing, you’re becoming mature.” Now, I give advice to people.

I learned about Day One when I was going through some stuff. It’s a very open space, and everyone is different, so you can learn different things. Day One helped me figure out what I want to do, because before, I struggled with the idea of not wanting to go to college or anything. But everyone at Day One is so supportive.

I really want Day One to just be everywhere. I want a Day One everywhere in every school. I just feel like this information we’re learning and these opportunities we’re getting are so important and I appreciate… I don’t want to be the only person who gets this opportunity because I feel like this information is so necessary.

I think Day One is important because as young people, we need more mentorship, and people who look out for us. Day One brings you together with people who have the tools and connections to help you get a more familiarized feeling of, you know, being young, trying to find your way in the world. If you are a victim of sexual assault, domestic violence, then Day One has the training and specialists here to help you get out of the situation and help you with whatever you need.