Rukky stood in the empty storefront on Third Street, measuring walls and envisioning where furniture would go, where counseling rooms would be situated, where the reception area would welcome women seeking help; she'd signed the lease that morning, using money from her father's gold inheritance to cover the first year's rent and renovation costs.

Her mother, Grace, walked through the space beside her. "Your father would be proud; he always wanted his children to use their resources to help ...