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Domestic violence victims remembered
Allison Phillips
Candles were lit to represent the fragility of the lives still at stake in the fight to end domestic violence.
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Published: October 25, 2009
About 25 people gathered at a Statesville church Saturday evening to remember the victims of domestic abuse.
A candlelight service for the victims was held at Visions Outreach Ministries on Front Street Saturday.
"My heart always bleeds when I hear that there has been another case of domestic violence reported," said Tony Bellamy, the church's administrator. "But I also know there are so many other cases that go unreported."
Patti West, an executive with Fifth Street Shelter Ministries and My Sisters House, was the featured
speaker at Saturday's gathering.
She told the crowd she had been speaking with a friend from a large city recently and the person was surprised to learn that domestic abuse is prevalent even in Statesville.
"There is a lot of it everywhere," she said.
West admitted to having been a victim of domestic abuse herself and said she found refuge at the home of her sister. When she started the shelter, the name came to her for that reason, she said.
"I found safe and comfort at my sister's house," West said. "And I hope the many women who have come through My Sister's House over the years have felt the same way while they were there."
West said My Sister's House is a place of many resources.
"But probably the best thing we have is women who are at various levels of healing," she said. "Who better to help someone than a person who has very recently been in that situation herself?"
West said at the heart of domestic abuse is a loss of freedom and peace.
"No woman ever has to be a hostage in her own home," she said. "No woman should have to live with that knot in her stomach as she hears the door open and she fears what kind of mood her husband will be in. And no child ever has to see his mother hurt again."
Bernardeane Moton conducted the candlelight portion of the ceremony. She said the empty chairs in the church could represent the people who lost their lives to domestic violence.
"They are people who are not with us anymore," she said.
As Moton blew out the candles, she compared the flame to the frailty of a life in a domestic violence situation.
"A flicker of light, a flicker of life," she said as she blew on the candle. "Gone in an instant."
The ceremony was held in recognition of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Another service will be held on the steps of the Iredell County Courthouse at 12:45 p.m. Monday.
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