Family Crisis Center makes children’s Christmas as normal as possible
Editors note: This article is part of a series on helping hands in the community.
For children and families coming out of domestic abuse situations, the holidays can be a challenging time for upholding old traditions, creating new traditions and maintaining a sense of normalcy.
For this reason, circumstances begin to warm up at the Family Crisis Center of Walker, Dade, Catoosa and Chattooga counties.
The Family Crisis Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting domestic violence victims. During the winter, the nonprofit hopes to normalize Christmas for some of the women and children who benefit from and receive their services.
“We want to make the season as normal as possible and do what anybody would do at home,” program director Tracy Winget said.
The Crisis Center has done anything from taking the children to Christmas parades and meeting Santa Claus, to helping the families acquire sponsors.
“We adopt all of our families out for Christmas,” Winget said. “We go out to anyone who has been to the shelter this year, and we send letters to ask what their children would like for Christmas, and we get sponsors per child who buy for that child for Christmas.”
The same process occurs for families who are currently utilizing the shelter.
“In here, it’s the same process,” she continued. “We wrap the gifts, and they’re handed out here at the center. Sometimes mom wants to wrap the gifts herself, which gives another layer of normalcy.”
The shelter tailors its approach depending on what mothers want to do.
“Sometimes we just stick them (gifts) under the tree in the living room, and they can wake up and open gifts whenever,” she said. “Sometimes everyone in here all wants to open their gifts at one time all together. Some moms want to bring the gifts to their room and open them privately with their child.”
According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, on average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States — more than
For those information on becoming a sponsor call the Family Crisis Center at 706-375-7630.
12 million women and men over the course of a year.
During the holidays, the effects of these occurrences are often intensified due to an upheaval of former family traditions. This, as officials from the Family Crisis Center have emphasized, is why sponsor support is so important.
“We want to make Christmas as normal as possible,” Winget concluded. “We especially appreciate the community support; we wouldn’t have Christmas without all our sponsors.”
The Walker County Sheriff’s Office asks for help to solve the murder of a man shot in the parking lot of his machine shop business.
Michael Eugene Mullens, 45, was shot once in the head Dec. 19, 2008, as he arrived at work at about 6 a.m. He was co-owner of Premier Pattern & Machine on Woodburn Road, formerly called Pipe Shop Road, in Flintstone.
Mullens was a popular community leader. A graduate of Rossville High School, he loved the great outdoors and hunting. According to his obituary, the Chickamauga resident derived the most pride and enjoyment from coaching his son with the North Georgia Bulldogs Baseball Select Team.
In the 11 years since his death, investigators said they have continued to interview anyone who might be able to shed light on the case.
They need more information to move forward with the case.
Investigators ask people who drove along Ga. 193 and Pipe Shop Road or who lived in the area at the time to consider the facts related to the case and to ask themselves some questions, hoping it might jog their memories.
Was a motorist driving with the vehicle’s headlights turned off?
Did a motorist pull out in front of another vehicle in a hurry?
Was a pedestrian walking near the area?
Did anyone see something that seemed unusual or suspicious in the area?
Does someone know more details than were available through media reports?
Has someone made a boast or threat related to the crime?
Has anyone heard any rumors related to the murder? A seemingly trivial bit of information may be the key to solving the crime, investigators said.
Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson, at the time of the murder, described the killer as lying in wait for Mullens, who was shot before he could exit his vehicle.
According to investigators: The shooter approached the side of the parked Ford F-150 pickup truck and fired one shot into the victim’s head before shooting at a security light. While the second shot shattered the light’s glass, the bulb continued to illuminate.
The driver’s door to his truck was ajar. Investigators do not know whether Mullens or his killer opened the door, but suspect Mullens was either caught offguard or knew the shooter.
When coworkers found Mullens slumped over his steering wheel about 7 a.m., his foot was still on the brake, the brake lights were on, and his vehicle keys had fallen from his grasp. He appeared to have been detaching his phone from its charger at the time he was shot.