COUNTY LIFE
Domestic Violence Awareness Month brings attention to widespread issue
“All it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing.” – Edward Burk
One in three women in Texas will experience domestic violence in her lifetime, according to the Texas Council on Family Violence. October is the month for Domestic Violence Awareness as purple is displayed in hopes of bringing awareness to a far too common problem.
“People want to say it’s not my business and I am not going to get involved, but we have to stop that. If we want to see a change, everyone wants it to go away and it not be true, but we can’t stop it if it is not addressed,” said Ginger Johnson, Community Educator and Bilingual Advocate for Wise Hope.
The Wise Hope Crisis Center, located at 1123 Highway 59 North in Bowie, opened its doors in April to help victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in Montague County.
“We hit the ground running. With a new office, I anticipated trying to get the word out to everyone that we were here, but that hasn’t been the case,” said Johnson. “It is very pleasing to me because living here in Bowie I knew there was a need. You just have to read the newspaper and talk to people to know it’s there.”
Wise Hope has served the Jack and Montague County areas in the past but advocates were only able to be in the area one day a week. A grant from the region out of Wichita Falls changed all that, allowing Wise Hope to place an office in both Jack and Montague counties, giving them the ability to better serve those communities.
Not only does it operate the two offices, but also the main Outreach Office in Decatur, a thrift store and a 15-bed shelter in Bridgeport. The shelter is not just for victims in Wise County, but for victims in all the communities, and if a victim needs to get to safety quickly, a cot can always be pulled out.
The dual agency helps not only domestic violence victims, but sexual assault victims as well. It operates a 24-hour crisis hotline at 940-626-4855. No appointment is necessary for immediate face-to-face crisis intervention and advocacy services.
Read the full story in the weekend News.
Local libraries wrap up their children’s summer reading programs this week.
The Bowie Public Library brings the popular Creature Teacher with all their spectacular animals for the final event on July 23 at the Bowie Community Center.
The program begins at 10 am. The children also will receive their prize books for their summer logs.
The Nocona Public Library ends its program at 10 a.m. on July 24 at the H.J. Justin Building at 100 Clay Street. The program will be “Our Own Action Heroes -” Nocona fire, police and EMTs.
Top photo – Smokey Bear visiting Bowie last week at summer reading.
Rachel and Roger Whitaker gave this metal storage container a fresh look with this colorful mural at the Bowie Animal Shelter. (Photo by Barbara Green)
Swim lessons for youngsters of all ages were conducted the past two weeks at the city pool. It was a good place to be during this summer heat. See more photos in the weekend News. (Photos by Barbara Green)
-
NEWS2 years ago2 hurt, 1 jailed after shooting incident north of Nocona
-
NEWS8 months agoSuspect indicted, jailed in Tia Hutson murder
-
NEWS1 year agoSO investigating possible murder/suicide
-
NEWS2 years agoWreck takes the life of BHS teen, 16
-
NEWS12 months agoMurder unsolved – 1 year later Tia Hutson’s family angry, frustrated with no arrest
-
NEWS1 year ago
Sheriff’s office called out to infant’s death
-
NEWS2 years agoBowie Police face three-hour standoff after possible domestic fight
-
NEWS2 years ago
Driver stopped by a man running into the street, robbed at knifepoint