by David Ball
Staff Writer
“Do you remember me?” quietly asked 15-year-old Roxy Pierce. “I was 4 years old the last time you saw me.”
Ellen Siler, chief executive officer of the Hubbard House, stared for a moment and then pulled the teen into her arms while mother Diana Perez Smiley watched with tear-filled eyes.
“Years ago we met Ellen when we were clients of the Quigley House (Shelter for Battered and Abused Women in Clay County),” said Smiley, a former victim of domestic violence.
“Ms. Ellen is one of my heroes,” added Smiley, who is now a victim advocate for clients served by Hubbard House. “I will hold her in my heart forever.”
The warm reunion was especially poignant following the personal stories shared at the 13th Annual Barbara Ann Campbell Memorial Breakfast held Wednesday at the Osborn Center.
More than 700 guests attended the event honoring Campbell, sister-in-law to former Jacksonville Mayor Jake Godbold and victim of domestic violence. She was shot and killed by her husband in 1995 at the age of 61.
The annual meeting also allowed Hubbard House officials to reflect on the past year, which was the non-profit’s 30th year in existence and filled with notable achievements.
Along with its anniversary, the Hubbard House celebrated 25 years of the First Step Batterers’ Intervention Program, a 26-week state-certified class for male and female abusers aimed at breaking patterns of violence.
Another Hubbard program, the Intimate Violence Enhanced Services Team, received the 2007 Award for Professional Innovation in Victim Services from U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.
Also last year, organizers founded a separate 501 (c) 3 called The Hubbard House Foundation as a way of ensuring financial stability.
“It will create a buffer of income,” Siler told the audience. “So when funding is (low), we can have continuing support of our programs.”
According to last year’s financial report, about one-third of the group’s $4 million budget came from federal, state and local governments, while more than half was from community donations.
Siler said this year’s city funding was cut 10 percent during budget sessions, and she is waiting for the tax reform vote in January to further gauge her funding level.
However, community support remains strong, as shown this past year when the annual ADT Hubbard House Golf Classic fundraiser broke a new record with more than $100,000 in contributions. The biggest fund-raising news of the year came from Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver, who gave a $1 million gift to Hubbard House.
The money will help with what was likely the biggest overall highlight from 2006 — the purchase of a building slated to become Hubbard House’s new outreach center and thrift store opening sometime in 2008. The acquisition made up 38 percent of this past fiscal year’s expenses, while operations to assist victims and children made up 43 percent and management and administration made up 7 percent.
“That outreach center will be a major expansion of our services,” said Siler. “It will give people a visible place where they can go and find out more about what we do and the services we provide. Hopefully, it will lead to more people getting out of an abusive situation.”
The Hubbard House operates numerous domestic violence advocacy and resource programs, but the biggest mission is still housing victims of domestic violence in Jacksonville. During the 2006-07 year, Hubbard House sheltered 916 clients, including 457 women, 451 children and eight men, for a total of 25,075 days.
Smiley recounted her own experience in a violently abusive relationship and how she was helped by the Hubbard House. Her emotional story was played during a video montage in front of the 700 attendants as well as her daughter.
“That was the first time I’d seen that video, and I’m very proud,” said Smiley’s daughter Pierce. “It took her a long time to get where she’s at today, but she did it.”
For more information on the Hubbard House, visit www.hubbardhouse.org or call the 24-hour hotline at 800-500-1119.
Sobering statistics
Jacksonville:
• 16 of the 137 murders in Jacksonville in 2006 were related to domestic violence.
• 7,259 domestic violence reports were filed with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in 2006 with a total of 7,962 victims.
• 2,797 victims (35 percent) were between the ages of 20 and 29, while 787 (10 percent) were 19 or younger.
• 5,872 victims (74 percent) were female, while 5,979 suspected abusers (76 percent) were male.
• 4,190 hotline calls were answered by Hubbard House.
• 916 people were sheltered by Hubbard House in 2006-07, including 457 women, 451 children and eight men totaling 25,075 days of shelter and 26,097 hours of counseling
Nation:
• One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.
• 1.3 million women are physically assaulted by an intimate partner each year.
• 53 percent of domestic violence comes from a current boyfriend or girlfriend.
• $5.8 billion is accrued each year in health-related costs of rape, physical assault, stalking and homicide by intimate partners, with $4.1 billion for direct medical and mental health costs and $1.7 billion for lost productivity and wages.
• 7.9 million paid workdays are lost each year due to violence against women.
• One in six women and one in 33 men have experienced an attempted or completed rape.
• 71 percent of rape and sexual assault victims knew the offenders.
• Every 2.5 minutes someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.
• 62 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police.
Source: The Hubbard House