Wise Hope honors victims

Several community members came out Tuesday evening to recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month with Wise Hope Crisis Shelter. A candlelight vigil was held honoring victims and survivors of domestic violence.

Penny Beaman, Wise Hope board member and founding member, was the speaker and shared her story of witnessing her mother’s death at the hands of her father just a few days before her 16th birthday.

She shared her conversation with the Cleburne police dispatcher when she called to report the incident in 1984.

“That was the night that my life was forever changed,” Beaman said. 

She said domestic abuse does not know race, creed or financial status.

“The death of my mother was no surprise to me, nor to the people that were close to our family because for all of my 15 years, I would go to bed most nights and hear the sound of my father yelling at my mother or attacking her physically,” Beaman said. “I would wake up not knowing what destruction I would find. It might be bruises on my mother, furniture destroyed, Christmas trees knocked over or even fish tanks busted. I remember so vividly waking up and finding a large butcher knife embedded into the wooden table in our living room.

“My mother would often try to call people, a pastor or different ministers to come over to try to help and it would just make matters worse. I was of course, deeply saddened by my mother’s death, but I also realized and was thankful that my father could no longer hurt her or my sisters or myself.”

She said during the trial of her father, his attorney manipulated the siblings at 16, 11 and 9 years old to speak kindly on his behalf so he wouldn’t spend the rest of his life in jail.

“We must have been convincing because they only gave him 18 months in jail,” Beaman said.

Although services for victims and their children have increased since 1984, domestic abuse has also increased, she said.

“My prayer and goal in being part of this board, this wonderful organization and this evening, is to help victims and their families,” Beaman said. “I hope I may be an inspiration in that even though I had this horrible event in my life, I survived and I even thrived.”

After Beaman spoke, Program Director Ronnie McIlroy announced the Wise Hope Crisis Shelter Board of Directors had met prior to the vigil and approved opening an outreach office in Jack County. The office will be located at 200 N. Church Street. 

The organization hopes to open the Jacksboro office sometime next month.