It is with much appreciation and gratitude that I share with the Natchez community that we have been able to relocate our facility to a new building.

We have made every attempt to keep the location of our new facility confidential for the protection of our families. We have felt for some time that the Oak Towers location and program no longer afforded women and children the anonymity necessary for their safety and progress while in our care.

I would like to take this opportunity to stress to those of you in the community who have been to our new location as a vendor and helper, to please remember that we strive to provide safety to all victims of domestic violence and will need your help in keeping our location confidential as discussed with you during your work with us.

There are people to thank for their assistance in our move, and the first on my list is Paul Miller. Paul began the first steps of getting our playground relocated. He and his company, H.B. Zachry, 16 years ago, originally assembled our playground so he had the previous experience, but not the employees of his company for this relocation. He and Lawrence Mayberry, however, were able to do the necessary work to get the project completed, as well as the task of getting our kitchen functional.

Because our facility is licensed by the Mississippi State Health Department, we are required to meet their standards for operation. There are so many things Paul did for us that would have made our move much more costly had he not donated his time and energy. He is the true meaning of volunteerism and unselfishness.

Donnie Johnson and sons helped in our day care move as well. Tyler Barr was able to help with our move into the shelter area. Mr. Dick Junkin of St. Catherine Ready Mix, Mrs. Carolyn Veruchhi at J&J Carpet, Ricky Smith at Bug Busters, Bobby Braswell with Braswell Granite and a number of other businesses made our move possible.

In addition, the James Madison University students and our new landlords, whom I will keep anonymous for obvious reasons, were all involved in many areas of this move and each added an element of their services that cannot be measured. We greatly appreciate each of them.

I cannot end my giving thanks without mentioning the staff of The Guardian Shelter for Battered Families for their hard work with this move. Some of the staff gave endless hours and energy with the expectation that our focus of safety for the victims will be greatly improved for the families of the nine counties we serve in Southwest Mississippi.

Our telephone contact information remains the same — 1-800-273-6938 or 601-442-0142. If you have donations, please contact us at the office for our current drop off plans.

I also want to share with all of you that we have begun our planning for the second annual Purple Dress Run and Pub Crawl. The event will bet April 21.

We will have an actual 5K run this year, with the run beginning at Bowie’s Tavern at 4 p.m. Registration for the 5K run will be $25. The pub crawl registration will be $25. Registration for both events will be $40. Please contact us at 601-442-0142 for registration details.

The pub crawl will begin at 5 p.m. at Bowie’s, and all events will conclude at Bowie’s. The festivities, including our floozie contest, will continue at Bowie’s after the run and pub crawl. Music and door prizes will be included in the evening events.

Our previous Purple Dress and Pub Crawl was well attended, and we look forward to seeing all the original crawlers again as well as new faces to join us in the fun evening.

Rachael Idom and Ryan Richardson will spearhead this event again this year. Rachael can be reached at NtzPDR@hotmail.com.

 

Donna Miller is the director of domestic violence programs at The Guardian Shelter.