A group of women got their hair and makeup done at a Duncanville hotel Saturday, but it was much more than a simple makeover.
"It makes me feel like I'm deserving, like I am somebody," said Sharonda Barnes as she got her eyes done.
It was a healing boost for self-esteem that had been crushed for so long.
"It starts with the mental abuse, the emotional abuse, then it's the hands -- the physical abuse," said Barnes.
She, like dozens of other women at the event, are survivors of domestic abuse. They received a weekend of pampering and empowerment through the Tapestry Ministries Common Thread Women's Conference at the Hilton Garden Inn this weekend.
Organizer Johnrice Newton throws the annual event because she knows what it's like.
"They need someone there that they could call and say 'I need help,'" said Newton.
She left an abusive husband nearly 25 years ago, but has only recently started telling her story through a book called "Healing Voices."
10 other women are also featured in the book.
"He raised his hand to hit my son," she said. "I knew if this 200 pound man hit his eight year old son, he would kill him. I stepped in front of my son and I took the blow."
That wasn't the first time, or the last, said Newton. But eventually, she left, when she decided she didn't want her sons to mirror that behavior.
According to Newton, one in three women are affected by domestic abuse. And she wants to give women a safe haven throughout the year.
If you would like to find out more about Tapestry Women's Ministry, click here.