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Friday, July 25, 2025

Students Show Support for Madeline's House

Students Show Support for Madeline's House

Located in Blackstone, Va., Madeline's House has been a home for battered women and their children who have no other place to go. The safe house serves Prince Edward and eleven other counties. Stocked with 35 beds in its main location but constantly accepting new boarders, it provides invaluable services such as emergency transport, counseling, legal aid, job searches, and follow-up care. According to their web page, in 2008, Madeline's House provided over 4,800 bed nights to its guests.

However, it is difficult to understand this commitment's gravity unless one knows exactly how often abusive circumstances happen and domestic disputes are covered up. This is another primary objective of the non-profit: to raise public awareness to the commonality and the evil of domestic violence and sexual assault.

The physically and emotionally damaged women and children who arrive at Madeline's are also not quick fixes. In an attempt to restore their lives, the staff works extensively on self-esteem as well as the creation of methods to distance the victims from their abusers. It is, likewise, not a free world and the services that are so invaluable to refuge-seekers cost money. For this reason, Longwood University's Creative Writing Department and local businesses organized Madeline's Day for fundraising.

Madeline Gearheart-Mitchell, the shelter's namesake, was the victim of a murder suicide on Sept. 6, 1998. That day, her estranged husband Barry tracked Madeline to her apartment and shot them both.

Madeline had gone through three restraining orders against her husband to escape an abusive and psychologically painful relationship. Confirming her fears, Barry was able to post bail repeatedly, stalking Madeline at her workplace and new home until he could find a chance to murder her. Furthermore, Madeline's failed escape from Barry orphaned their two daughters.

The case of Gearheart-Mitchell and her family represents the worst-case scenario confronting women in abusive situations. It is also the concern of those who observe many women's still vulnerable status in society to relationships they no longer want. In 2008 when the important resources of Madeline's House were depleted and closing imminent, some of these individuals took notice.

After a call from then Madeline's House fundraising coordinator Cindy Longest on Sept. 24, 2008, Longwood seniors Lia Carroll-Hackett and Sarah Barr, and graduate students Austin Eichelberger and Alex Odom of the Creative Writing Department learned that the shelter needed $13,000 in a few weeks, or it would be forced to shut down. They then set about a program to involve Longwood and the Farmville community.

After asking local businesses to donate one percent of their profit by the start of Domestic Violence Month on Oct. 1, 14 responded, including Charley's Waterfront Café that pledged ten percent of its income and a monthly Madeline's Day.

Raffle tickets were sold between Sept. 29 - Oct. 3 with 19 donated prizes at Oktoberfest. Longwood's chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, Longwood's rugby and golf teams, and Dorrill Dining Hall chipped in and raised $1,223 in conjunction with the raffle.

The 14 participating businesses gave another $1,204. All together, the shelter credited "the awareness" caused by the Longwood campaign with raising more than $40,000 including a $15,000 contribution from the Farmville area. Blackstone and South Hill, Va., now hold their own Madeline's Days as a result.

The Longwood Madeline's Day has continued steadily since 2008 and this year was under the leadership of Graduate Assistants Summer Jenkins and Jessica Koelzer.

Koelzer said that this was her "first year working in a management position on Madeline's Day. Last year I was a working intern on the project, but it's an honor to be this close and personal this year on all the decisions." She felt it was "an honor to work on Madeline's Day this year. The people we have met through the community efforts and also outreach programs are amazing and we can only hope to strengthen that bond between our department and Madeline's House."

Based on the social fear of mentioning domestic violence, despite its affect on one in three women and an unaccountable number of children, the "Man-Up" pledge was devised. Koelzer said this was to raise "awareness [among men] that not all violence is between the abused and the abuser, but that in fact by allowing domestic violence to happen, you are not only encouraging it, but also you are an accessory."

Koelzer said "it would be wonderful if the Longwood Community would support Madeline's House and volunteer with them or donate at any time. They are always looking for help and money- nobody realizes how much money it takes to get these women and children living a normal life again. Things that we take for granted- especially safety- are things these women appreciate beyond belief, and deserve more than some can imagine."

Jenkins, also in her first year heading Madeline's Day, described the day as arising not only from the efforts of Carroll-Hackett, Barr, Eichelberger, and Odom, but a pre-existing support for domestic violence victims. The Longwood community is asked, in this continuing tradition, to give "awareness, participation, and money" to a place for victims to "hide and get back on their feet." Akin to Koelzer, Jenkins felt that even in her position as manager, she was "a small step on the totem pole" to notifying people about domestic violence.

This year, she said, the silent vigil was worked onto campus, originally in the Free Speech Zone on the Lankford Patio, but moved to a rain location inside, with the inclusion of 150 white carnations from Rochettes' and Carter's flower shops. She concluded by saying that "the biggest part would be getting students together."

All of the pieces arranged by Jenkins and Koelzer came together on Sept. 30 at the third annual Madeline's Day. The carnations, with small informative papers attached, were handed out to female students and the "Man-Up" sheets to males from a table in Dorrill Dining Hall. Pamphlets such as "Rape Aggression Defense,", "Madeline's House," and "Domestic Violence," lay beside posters stating "Love Shouldn't Hurt" on the student-decorated table, manned by three to four people at a time. A banner hung from the front announcing Madeline's Day to the arriving diners.

At 4 p.m., the vigil took place in Lankford's Ballroom. Despite a small turnout because of the rain, Madeline's House Sexual Assault Program Director Shelly Epperson and Ray Ostrander from the Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) spoke on the day's issues. Epperson spoke first, telling the statistics of domestic violence, stating that, "One in every three women and one in ever six men is in a violent relationship." She also read the names of the victims that Madeline's House was aware of related to domestic violence. Next, Ostrander let students know about the free self-defense classes offered at Longwood.

Meanwhile, "mementos, flowers, or tokens of remembrance" were presented for individual victims of domestic violence. By 4:30, the day's grand event had ended, but interns remained until 6 p.m. to carry out their duties to the famished dinner crowd.

With all things considered, Madeline's Day seeks to indicate that it is not normal for anyone to be controlled, battered, neglected, or demeaned in a relationship. Both sexes deal with abuse from a partner. In 2007, 50-60 percent of domestic violence cases had female victims and the other 40 percent were male.

For more information about their services, donation, or assistance opportunities of any kind, Madeline's House can be reached by email at info@madelineshouse.net, by phone at 434-292-1077 or their webpage at www.madelineshouse.net. Their hotline, 1-888-819-2926, can be called for aid in case of an unhealthy relationship in which abuse is taking place or one partner feels threatened.