While Ciara Francisco was applying for jobs, her then-boyfriend drove around campus to find her car. When he couldn’t find it, he suspected she was being unfaithful.

His hunt began because he saw her put effort more into her appearance that morning. As his insecurities multiplied, so did Francisco’s fear — whenever she dressed nice, he would call her a whore.

The Port Huron senior compares the emotionally abusive two-year relationship to brainwashing.

Four years later, Francisco is Alpha Chi Omega’s philanthropy vice president, helping run its week-long philanthropy event, The Lyre Games. The events raised $4,520 to donate to the local Women's Aid Shelter and Family Enrichment Council, which assists women and families who are survivors of domestic violence.

Francisco said her ex-boyfriend would constantly check her phone and demand to know where she was. If anything went wrong in the relationship, he’d convince her it was her fault.

"He saw he could break me down mentally until I was afraid to leave him,” Francisco said. “Now I want to give back and help survivors as much as possible.”

The Lyre Games kicked off March 21 with Seek the Heights rock climbing competition and district decorating, where fraternities decorated their houses with purple to support domestic violence awareness.

March 22 and 23 featured all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinners and "Pie an Alpha Chi" for $1. The Lyre Games concluded March 24 with a Little Red Carnation scavenger hunt, where participants took photos with sorority sisters and uploaded them to social media.

“It doesn't affect me as much anymore, but once it was over, it was a process of learning myself again. I had to slowly build up my self-esteem by working out and loving myself,” Francisco said. “I’m not as affected anymore except during weeks like this, where I look back and see how far I’ve come since then.”

Fraternities competing in the Lyre Games received points for each participating or attending member at events. Competing non-Greek student organizations received points based on the percentage of their organization participating or attending events.

The winning fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau with 465 points, received $200 toward its philanthropy. The winning non-Greek organization, the club quidditch team, with 82 points, received $100 toward a philanthropy of choice.

“The week-long event of raising awareness for domestic violence made my sisters and me feel empowered,” said Alpha Chi Omega member and Battle Creek junior Heather Roadcap. “The money we raised makes an impact on the community and survivors.”

One of Roadcap’s earliest memories is sitting next to a boy who would grope her on the kindergarten school bus. When she reported the events to her bus driver, she was told, “he may just want a hug or attention.” The invalidation of her experience made her afraid to tell her parents until she was 16, she said.

Growing up, Roadcap found herself a target of the younger boys of her community, who would tackle her to grope and kiss her.

“It’s so weird to think about because where did they learn that?” she said. “Now I almost feel bad for the boy on the bus, because he had to have learned it somewhere.”

The experiences caused flashbacks and nightmares, creating intimacy problems between Roadcap and her boyfriend.

She’d wake up sweating and confused from a nightmare, to which her boyfriend would attempt to comfort her by hugging her. The touch would send Roadcap panicking and yelling "don’t touch me" until he learned to just grab her a glass of water and talk her down.

“Unless you’ve gone through the situation, it’s hard to imagine what it’s like. Every survivor has a story and has gone through something different,” Roadcap said. “I felt crazy for the longest time, so (it helped) having a more accepting society of the fact domestic violence is so common to help survivors come out and say ‘this happened to me and made me a stronger person.’”

Roadcap and her boyfriend "found their groove" on how to help her through the nightmares and flashbacks, which are now a rare occurrence.

One of the only ways to help a survivor is through patience, Francisco said. People in abusive relationships tend to isolate themselves and have their self-esteem torn down, she said.

"It takes time and patience because it's a struggle for everyone involved," she said. "Don't give up on your friends or family. Recovery is a long, slow process. All you can do is be there for the survivor."