By Ronica Shannon
Pictures were placed sporadically throughout the family room of Charlene Pullins’ childhood home.
One here, one there with no symmetry, rhyme nor reason.
“You wouldn’t believe the holes in our family room where he would shoot at her,” Pullins said Thursday at an event marking the opening of Hope’s Wings, Madison County’s new domestic violence shelter for women and children. “Now, if he wanted to kill her, he would have because he was a really good shot. But, you wouldn’t believe how the pictures were placed all over that room to cover up the bullet holes.”
Pullins, who was one of many supporters of the Hope’s Wings project, was able to hang pictures neatly in a shelter room she dedicated to the memory of her mother.
She shared her story in front of a large crowd Thursday, where she was joined by several local dignitaries from local and state government.
Pullins retired as a teacher at Berea Community Schools and also taught at Eastern Kentucky University.
She made sure to educate herself after watching her mother suffer through a severely abusive marriage.
“As soon as I was old enough to know what a divorce was, I would beg her to get a divorce,” Pullins recalled. “She would say, ‘Now, Char, I don’t have that diploma or that certificate. I would have to wash dishes in a restaurant and I couldn’t support you.’ And I really thought that was true. I thought well, it’s my fault that she has to stay here. But as an adult, I realized that she knew he would kill her, and he would have if she left.”
Pullins said she was happy to have the Hope’s Wings facility in Madison County.
“I wish we had 10,000 more of them,” she said.
The shelter grew from an idea of a group of people from the First Christian Church of Richmond. From there, it blossomed into what it is today, which is a 16-bed facility with many community and government supporters.
Pullins was preceded by words from: state Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond; state Sen. Ed Worley, D-Richmond; Richmond Mayor Connie Lawson; Madison Judge-Executive Kent Clark; Walter Tangel, instructor at the Kentucky Leadership Institute at the Department of Criminal Justice; and Nicole Pang, director of the Office of Victims Advocacy for the Attorney General’s Office.
The facility has been named The Marilyn Isaacs House in memory of the daughter of Jewell Isaacs, who helped with the acquisition of five acres of land for the facility’s construction.
Hope’s Wings now operates as a tax-free, charitable organization.
Robyn Moreland serves as the executive director of Hope’s Wings, and Kim DeCoste is chair of Hope’s Wings’ administrative board.
DeCoste talked emotionally Thursday about a vision she had more than 10 years ago.
“I visualized a mother pushing her small child on a swing on a sunny day,” she said. “It was peaceful. They were laughing and they felt safe. I’m excited that today we are actually on the cuff of having that dream come true. There are so many people who have had an active role in making our vision a reality. We don’t have the swing up yet, but I think that’s coming.”
The facility will continue to operate on donations and is in constant need of items such as food, clothing (for women and children), person hygiene items, twin-sized sheets, blankets, etc.
The community can volunteer in several ways, including planning or attending a fundraiser, volunteering to mentor a victim or tutor a child, cooking a meal at the facility, providing Christmas gifts for the children, teaching a self-sustainability class or helping prepare tax returns for the victims.
To learn more about ways to donate or how to refer someone to the facility, call 623-4095 or toll free at 1-877-HOPE-040.
Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.
