My Story
Patricia Prillaman, Roanoke, VA
Roanoke’s President, Pat Prillaman, is an avid volunteer…Whether it’s volunteering for the Salem Community Clothes Closet or volunteering for the Salem Ecumenical Ministries—Pat Prillaman, President of the Roanoke chapter, is a very busy lady…
The Salem Community Clothes Closet provides good, clean, used clothing and shoes for anyone who needs them. This free service is especially important in these difficult economic times.
The clothes closet is in located in Salem and the space and utilities are donated. The closet is open Monday—Friday from 10am to 2pm and again on the first and third Tuesdays in the evenings. In addition to clothes donations, they take monetary donations which are used for liability insurance, shoe vouchers for referred clients and other operational needs. On a continuing basis they need donations of baby and children’s large size clothing, jeans of all sizes, shoes and maternity wear.
Volunteers such as Pat, work two-hours shifts regularly—their motto is “Money might be short, but most of us can give a couple of hours a month.”
Volunteers in photo are: seated, Joan Dorsey. Standing (from left): Jo Ann Leonard, Kitty Tate, counselors Jeanine Blackburn, Tonya Edwards, and standing (first on the right) is Secretary Pat Prillaman.
Roanoke Social Services and Total Action against Poverty representatives came to the Tuesday, January 12th meeting of the Salem Ecumenical Ministries to speak about the huge, growing, and often secret issue, domestic violence that occurs in nearly any and every community and socioeconomic class.
They learned that domestic violence doesn’t have to be physical – it also includes emotional and psychological abuse including threats, intimidations, and verbal assault; financial abuse by controlling a victim’s economic resources; identity abuse; sexual abuse, even spiritual abuse.
Victims and their families are often so familiar with the patterns of abuse that they often believe that abuse is a normal way of life. It’s often hard to detect unless one knows to recognize the signs:
- The abuser isolates and controls what the victim does and where he or she goes.
- The abuser uses their children to make the other partner feel guilty, to send messages, and uses visitation as a way to harass him or her.
- The abuser tries to keep the partner from getting a job, makes him or her ask for money, takes away money, gives an allowance or makes him or her account for every penny.
The abuser puts the victim down by calling her/him names, playing mind games, or making the victim feel like he or she is crazy.
May 12, 2010
