Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2021
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
PAGE 3B
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Peace Place hosts annual gala to raise hinds for a new facility
By Morgan Ervin
For Mainstreet Newspapers
Peace Place Inc. held its 20th an
nual “Still I Rise’' Gala at the Georgia
Club Oct. 16 to raise funds to build
a larger facility for women and their
families in Banks, Barrow and Jack-
son counties who are fleeing domestic
violence
According to Peace Place case
manager Alexis Taylor, “we only have
four rooms right now and you can
only have like seven women in total.
So, the hardest part is turning some
one away. I’m excited for us to be able
to help more women, but also excited
just over the new facility in general.’’
The new facility, which is set to
break ground Nov. 1, will be located
in Jefferson and will offer survivors
plenty of space for play and recreation
with enough open space left to allow
for further expansion. It will also be
more centrally-located within the
tri-county region it serves, which will
optimize its scope and bring in popu
lations living on the outskirts of Banks
or Barrow counties who would other
wise have no safe place to go.
Peace Place was co-founded by
Faye Griffin in 1998.
“I had friends who were desperate
circumstances and had no place to go
and I wanted to make my home avail
able,” said Griffin.
But when Griffin talked to an of
ficer from Georgia Department of
Human Services, they advised her
against using her home as a shelter in
order to protect her own safety.
It was at that moment Griffin saw
the need for an organization to help
battered women and children escape
violence.
“So. I agreed to help start a shelter,”
said Griffin.
Less than two years later, the first
shelter opened its doors in 2000.
Peace Place and Jackson County
have entered into a 50-year ground
lease at an undisclosed 5-acre prop
erty in Jefferson, which the county
donated to Peace Place.
Even though the land is secured
thanks to the generosity of county of
ficials. the total estimated cost of con
struction for the new shelter is $2.6
million. Prior to the fundraising event.
Peace Place had already received sub
stantial donations of labor and materi
als in the amount of $1.8 million.
Since the kickoff of its capital cam
paign in early 2021. Peace Place has
raised nearly $200,000, according to
Peace Place executive director Traci
Bledsoe and finance chair Dee Laven-
dar. The organization has also applied
for several grants to assist with con
struction costs and is currently in the
process of holding a number of other
fundraising events, which will remain
on the calendar unless the fundraising
goal is met and exceeded.
Going into Saturday night’s fund
raising gala, the Peace Place is still
short $821,000 in reaching its goal.
Out of the $1.8 million raised so far,
it is largely from donation commit
ments for labor and materials. Bled
soe said she hoped to raise $200,000
during Saturday’s event.
The gala featured a silent auction,
a live auction, a raffle and a “Build a
Foundation” brick fundraiser.
The silent auction featured dozens
of items including an Outback Steak-
house gift basket, a Funopolis fami
ly fun pack, a Lake Burton pontoon
boat rental, a Yeti cooler full of Royal
Crown Cola and Moon Pies, college
football tickets to see the Univ. of
Georgia play Georgia Tech on Nov.
27. and a number of other various
wine and gift baskets, gift cards, lot
tery tickets and charcuterie sets were
among the dozens of items on display
during the silent auction.
Auctioneer Andy Garrison per
formed the live auction, which in
cluded trips to Tuscany, Antigua and
St. Simons Island, an afternoon of
shooting with Sheriff Janis Mangum
at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office
firing range, a membership to Blake’s
in Braselton, and a dinner for eight at
Chapman Hills with a wine pairing
from Public Square Wine Market.
The first raffle winner was There
sa Kenerly, who won an instant wine
cellar containing 52 bottles of wine.
The second raffle winner was Donna
Ginn, who won a $250 bottle of St.
Cloud Bourbon.
Attendees were also encouraged
by Peace Place board member Sande
Bailey-Gwinn in her “Build a Foun
dation” performance to encourage the
community to help build a new foun
dation for women and children flee
ing domestic violence by purchasing
a brick for Peace Place’s new emer
gency shelter, which is set to break
ground next month.
“We need to ask other people; can
you help us build? The foundation has
been made, but they can’t stop there.
It takes other people to come get a
brick,” said Bailey-Gwinn.
Bailey-Gwinn also read Maya An-
gelou’s “Still I Rise” to the audience
and was followed by McCall Con
ner’s performance of Andra Day’s
2015 hit, “Rise Up”.
In Traci Bledsoe’s speech recog
nizing the organization’s loyal spon
sors and donors, the organization’s
“Partners in Prevention”, who have
supported its mission through dona
tions and volunteering their time and
energy.
Thanks to the support from donors
and sponsors, in 2020, Peace Place
served 2,022 women and 61 children,
providing them with shelter, support
and care. Also in 2020. Peace Place
provided 41,000 services, including
legal, transitional housing, counsel
ing, hotline and more.
So far in 2021. the organization
has received 3,756 hotline calls and
the occurrence of domestic violence
doesn’t appear to be dropping any
time in the foreseeable future.
“This is our legacy. This is how we
make the world a better place. What
is your legacy? What opportunities
have you missed? What will you do
today to make the world a better place
tomorrow? Let’s rise together.” said
Bledsoe.
Mr. Berlin Sims, a great American
In the south Alabama town of B ay Minette,
just outside Mobile, lived a great man and an
American hero.
I did not know him. That saddens me.
Yet I had the privilege of walk
ing in with the family and sitting
on the third bench of the First
Baptist Church as a mass of town’s
people turned out on a Tuesday af
ternoon to say good-bye to a man
who served his God, his country,
his family and his community.
The two days I spent with the
Sims family reminded me strong
ly of what a life well lived means
to countless people.
Truly I was not worthy of the
opportunity to sit so close to the
flag-covered coffin, but the fami
ly had shown grace and invited me to join
them, to travel in the processional along the
tree-lined streets to the cemetery escorted by
several police cars while other patrol cars
stopped traffic and law enforcement officers
saluted as the hearse passed by.
At the church, two preachers extoled the
goodness of his steadfast Christian witness;
an Army colonel reminded us that military
service of men like Berlin Sims keeps Amer
ica strong and free; the congre
gation stood to sing “Victory in
Jesus” then, perhaps most affect
ing of all, his son, Mitchell, and
grandchildren stepped quietly on
stage and performed, with strings
and piano, a haunting melody.
The song was mournful and to
my Appalachian ear, it sounded
like the sad fiddles and ballads of
my mountain people. In the musi
cal notes. I could hear the pain of a
hard survival yet a gentle crossing
over the River Jordan. I learned
later that the song “Ashokan Fare-
well” was composed as a lament by Jay Un-
gar - and indeed inspired by Appalachian
music. It is the theme music to Ken Burns’
documentary. The Civil War.
Later, at the cemetery, a light rain fell.
One of the preachers offered me shelter un
der an enormous black umbrella. From there,
I watched as a man in his 90s, hobbled toward
the casket then stood to the side. He wore a
billed-hat embroidered, “World War II Veter
an.” A 21-gun salute fired and Taps played.
Still, through all of this and though emotion
ally moved, I did not cry until...
And, this is where I always cry; a neatly
folded flag was presented to his widow, Linda,
and a soldier, looking her directly in the eyes,
said, “On behalf of the President of the United
States, the United States Army and a grateful
nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of
our appreciation.”
Beneath the black umbrella, my lips quiv
ered and tears pooled. The widow and family
wept gently, too.
This is how I came to be in the presence of
such greatness and had the honor to mourn
a World War n veteran who spent 95 years
giving to others: his son, Terry, is a cherished
friend of ours.
Though Mr. Sims had never heard my name
or knew that I existed, it was important that
I make the seven-hour drive to join in the re
membrance of an astounding man.
Terry has been a much beloved member of
the extended Tinker family for well over 30
years. Like his father, Terry has a servant’s
heart and sheds his kindness on all whom
he encounters. For decades, Terry has lived
in New York City but he never left behind
his lilting Alabama drawl or his respectful
Southern manners. It bonded us the moment
I met him.
Tink was on a script deadline when news
came that Mr. Sims had been called to his
heavenly home so I kissed him good-bye
and headed south to be there for Terry. That’s
what Southerners do.
Terry hugged me tightly, whispering, “You
have no idea how much this means.”
It meant more to me. I now pray daily to
be like Mr. Sims and to leave behind me, a
life well served.
Ronda Rich is the best-selling author of
What Southern Women Know About Faith.
Visit www.rondarich.com to sign up for her
free weekly newsletter.
ronda
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