This is the second in a three-part series on domestic violence. Names of those abused have been changed.

The children were in bed and Charlotte Carroll was spending Christmas Eve assembling toys by herself. She had no clue where her husband was and didn’t dare ask.

Carroll would not have believed anyone who foretold she would be abused. Yet, she was for two decades. It’s knowledge that now helps her in her present role as director at Restoration of Hope.

Carroll, along with now retired Joyce Stewart, founded Restoration of Hope in 1997 as temporary housing for women and their children who have been victims of domestic violence.

“We give them referrals and options. They have to make the choice (to leave),” Carroll said. “We can’t make them leave. They have to want to better their lives. That’s why it‘s important for women who have been in their situations to be there to explain they are not alone.”

Lisa, an abused woman who sought help at the Stuttgart shelter, said the volunteers became her friends and helped give her hope for the future and regain her self-confidence.

Restoration of Hope is just one in a network of shelters throughout the nation that helps women in transition get to where they need to be. Carroll said they help women both locally and from across the nation get back on their feet once they leave, which includes going to court with them for support.

For Lisa, the non-profit shelter also helped clear any legal issues that occurred since she left her abuser. She said the hardest part once at the shelter was when she began searching for a place of her own and transportation. She was able to find a job after two days at the shelter.
Another important part of the shelter is preparing women to leave an abusive relationship.

“It’s the most dangerous time of the domestic relationship because when the perpetrator realizes she is leaving, they realize all they did before did not work and they will cry, beg and plead for them to come back,” she said. “He will make all types of promises—if drunk, go to AA, will get counseling—all the things she wants to hear and, most times, it will work.”

Carroll, who is the outreach coordinator/child advocator in Prairie County as well, said it works because when abused women leave, they are totally lost since they have not been making decisions or money for themselves. “They have lived in a survival mode,” she said.

The women feel failure at everything. The decision is not aided in the fact that most women in an abusive relationship will typically have three to four children. Carroll said, the perpetrator “will say no one wants you with all these children. He will threaten to call DHS (Department of Human Services) and report the woman as a neglectful mother.” If called, DHS will remove children if domestic abuse is found to be occurring since it is not only dangerous for the child, but a learned behavior.

It’s an experience that Carroll has lived through. The Atlanta, Ga., native began dating her now ex-husband when she was 19-years old. He was controlling, jealous of her relationship with family and friends and would get mad at the smallest things.

Their relationship worsened when he began taking drugs a year after they married. He began punching walls and eventually hitting Carroll and their children. The family moved to Stuttgart in 1976.

At one point, Carroll said she was going to leave and had her stuff already boxed up, however, “he pulled the box out of my hands, pinned me to the wall and said he would kill me.”

“Then he said he would kill himself and ran out the door. I heard a gunshot. It scared me,” she said. “I ran outside and he was standing behind the door laughing.”

She eventually left for good in 1984 with the divorce final in 1985 after her son told her he was learning Tae Kwon Do because “one day his dad was going to push him against the wall one time too many. He was going to be able to defend himself and me.”

It was then that Carroll realized that there would eventually be an altercation between her son and husband that would leave her son hurt, in jail or dead. She stayed with friends and, at one point, hid in a trailer at Reydell so he couldn’t find her. In the following months, she heard it all — he courted, begged and threatened to kill her — before he threatened suicide again over the phone and even shot a gun in a failed attempt to get her home.

He (eventually) called and told me he had left the state because he got drunk one night and decided he was going to climb on the roof and shoot me in the head when I left work, she said. He said only God had stopped him. So he left the state so he wouldn’t do that.
Carroll said he has since died. She and her children have forgiven him especially after learning that he had repented — after his death, they found his Bible open to Psalm 32.

It’s a life lesson that she has shared with fellow domestic violence victims well before the shelter opened. Now, she said her main goal is to give the women the tools they need to help themselves.

“At some point in time, they will get the strength and courage to get out and we want to be there,” she said. “If we only save one out of 14 people here, it will be worth it.”

Restoration of Hope has a hotline, of which the first question asked is “Are you safe?” If they are trying to leave, Carroll said they work with police to help meet the woman safely and take her to the shelter. Once there, the woman is treated for her injuries if needed, advised of the house rules and asked to write an impact statement on what happened to bring her to the shelter.

Carroll said it takes an average of seven tries for a woman to successfully leave, although they gain more knowledge and information of what they need each time. If a woman does go back, Carroll said they make sure she has a safety plan and an emergency plan — have a neighbor or friend call police if they ever see a certain object moved or in sight.

Safety measures are also in place at the shelter, which has had a perpetrator call and threaten them before coming in its parking lot before being scared away. Carroll said they also take each person’s word at face value. If they say they have been abused, they are given help. However, she said it does come out if they are not being truthful or, in fact, are the abusers.

To get help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1 (800) 799-7233. Locally, those being abused can call the Restoration of Hope Hotline at (870) 672-4341 or toll free at 1 (866) 884-4637.

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Restoration of Hope gives victims another chance at normal lives

KIAMA Council's plan to restore Barroul House as part of a proposed Kiama Hospital redevelopment has excited members of the community who have campaigned for decades for its restoration.

Kiama Council general manager Michael Forsyth said under the council's redevelopment plans, the house would take on a new role.

"If restored, Barroul House could become a cafe or common area, or office space for staff," he said.

Kiama's Tony Clapham took up the fight in 2006, concerned it would become a victim of "demolition by neglect".

Currently, metal poles support the rotting pillars lining the verandah.

Mr Clapham said he wholeheartedly supported the move.

"It's one of the most important historic houses in Kiama," he said.

"If the restoration is done by the council, it will be much more locally-minded than if the Department (of Health) did it - the more local, the better."

Jamberoo resident and Kiama and District Historical Society secretary Sue Eggins said despite petitions and meetings with state ministers, activists had achieved little success until now.

"The Department keeps fobbing us off," she said.

"It would be excellent if the council took it over."

Thomas Surfleet Kendall built the Georgian-style house from plastered basalt rubble in 1857.

He also moved his wife, Caroline, who was one of the legendary orphaned Rutter sisters, and their nine children into the house.

When their eldest two daughters died young, the Kendalls also raised nine of their grandchildren in the house.

The Department of Health bought the property in 1928 and from about 1930, it served as the nurses' quarters, the matron's residence, the hospital's physiotherapy department, home of counselling services, and now as hospital storage.

Kiama Meals on Wheels also used the building as its meal preparation headquarters, but mould and mildew forced the group out three years ago.

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Restoration campaign gains momentum

26-11-2009 00:52 http://www.bapaintingdfw.com | Dallas, TX | Fort Worth, TX | Frisco, TX | McKinney, TX | Lucas, TX | Allen, TX | South lake, TX | Keller, TX | Highland Park , TX | Parker, TX | Sachse, TX | Argyle, TX | Plano, TX | Garland, TX | Lewisville, TX | Addison , TX | Savanna , TX| Arlington, TX | Denton,...

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Garage Door Spray Painting | Dallas FT. Worth | Exterior Home Painters | Restoration - Video

11-03-2011 21:00 This is a movie of a home made restoration of my mates fibreglass cuddy / half cabin boat that I did for him just recently. Worth a look. When he got it is was almost a dumping candidate.... but not any more. I am in Logan City, Queensland, Australia. Enjoy.

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Home Made Boat Restoration - Fibreglass - Half Cabin - Australia - Video

MANCHESTER — Golden-honey light once again shined down upon a
sparkling Crowell Chapel in Manchester over a weekend filled
with ceremony and music.

The weekend events spotlighted the small Gothic structure's own
history, with a rededication of the chapel nearly 108 years
after it first opened its doors, and five years after the
launch of an estimated $220,000 restoration effort.

The chapel — constructed from Rockport gray granite — was built
in memory of Benjamin Franklin Crowell, a native son, who left
Cape Ann in 1859 as a young man to seek his fortune out west in
Colorado.

He was among those who became rich but, only after many
endeavors from panning for gold without much success, and then
sheep ranching, publishing and banking before he struck gold in
a way that would pay off.

In Sally Gibson's history, she noted that, after the Civil War,
the Crowell family members in Manchester fell on hard times,
and Benjamin's two sisters, Susan and Emily, began to take in
summer boarders. But soon after, their brother found gold and
he shared his wealth with his sisters.

"Almost every year, Benjamin came home to Manchester to visit.
In 1897, he died out west and was brought home for the last
time — the Crowell family plot is not far from the chapel,"
Gibson's history relates.

Gibson wrote that, when Susan, the last of the family, was in
her 70s, she dreamed of a building "of Gothic design similar to
the church architecture of Old England" to be constructed as a
memorial to her brother.

The Feb. 6, 1904 issue of the Manchester Cricket tells of the
new chapel: "The tower at the entrance is 60 feet high, with
heavily buttressed sides and castellated top. The nave is solid
oak, finished to the rafters, with a Gothic-arched roof
supported by massive oak trusses."

The stained glass, made by Horace Phipps of Boston, was
designed according to his sister's wishes who wanted two panels
to show an oak tree on either side, standing for the two sides
of her family, the Crowells and the Allens, according to
Gibson. "The spreading branches as they extend upward join
above, and intertwine with grapevines and fruit to fill the
upper portion of the windows."

The chapel again sprung to life over the weekend with two
events — one on Saturday to honor the 30 crafts people involved
in the restoration followed by a sold-out concert on Sunday,
both timed for 3 p.m. to coincide with the optimum sunlight to
showcase the stained glass, said Christopher "Woody" Kelly,
chairman of the Manchester Community Preservation Committee.

"The chapel has what we call high quality English arts and
crafts stained glass windows of total beauty," he said.

The Benjamin Franklin Crowell Memorial Chapel (May 28,
1904-Jan. 29, 2012), located in Rosedale Cemetery on Rosedale
Avenue, can hold up to 150 people.

Kelly noted that there will be an open house in the spring so
there will be other opportunities to see inside.

Most all of the craftsmen involved in the restoration are from
the greater Cape Ann and North Shore area.

"They are the most beautiful tapestry of people," said Kelly.

He also praised Judith Selwyn, of Preservation Technology
Associates, Inc., a nationally-known expert who has overseen
the restoration of historic masonry for structures at Harvard,
Yale, Wellesley College, Smith College, the U.S. Naval Academy
and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

She has been a major consultant on this job for more than six
years, said Kelly.

Overall, the project required years of planning and raising
money and about five years of work, with the estimated cost of
around $220,000.

Kelly noted that 109 years later, a major change is in store.
In addition to the chapel being used for its intended mortuary
and memorial services, there will be a move to make it
accessible for cultural and performing arts events.

"We are now endeavoring to make a concert series and hold other
cultural events, such as lectures, poetry readings and weddings
to make it alive and to help save it because we figured the
more it's used, the more it will be appreciated and there can
be money raised to protect it," he said.

The building was almost torn down in 1970s. The chapel, like so
many historic buildings in many towns, had fallen into
significant disrepair, with leaks, falling plaster and was
dirty.

In 1981, the town allowed for it to be used for a broader range
of purposes. But it still lingered in disrepair until this
latest effort.

The adoption of the Community Preservation Act by Manchester in
2005 was the first step, and when enough money was raised, the
actual restoration work began in 2007.

Gail McCarthy can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3445, or at
gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com.

Continued here:
The light of restoration

16-01-2012 13:17 An imposing Georgian mansion taken on by a young couple, not realising the amount of time and effort needed to put into it.

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Restoration Home - Stoke Hall - Episode Three - Video

14-01-2012 16:21 In this 12-minute video, we document the work of Hope

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Hope

12-01-2012 15:29 The Moses Daniels house was originally built in 1797 in Mendon, MA. It was completely disassembled in 1984 and reconstructed in Sherborn, MA.

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Moving a 1797 house - Video

06-01-2012 06:42 http://www.coastalflrealestate.com Here in Florida we have always had to deal with shifting beach sand. This morning I found the Environmental Resources Management project underway to restore the beach near the Jupiter Inlet. Looking for a home in this area

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Jupiter Beach Park restoration, Jupiter homes for sale - Video

06-11-2011 19:56 Owner and Design by: Tom Mulcrone Contractors: Juan Alvarez - Bathroom, Baseboards, Crown, Shoe Molding Charles Stoudenborough - Hardwood Floors and Paint Living Room: Paint - Stable Hay BEHR Furniture - IKEA Paintings - Leah Devora Contemporary Art (Los Angeles) Horizontal Blinds - Home Depot Fans - Dan's Fan City Accessories - IKEA Bedroom: Furniture - IKEA Backlighting - Lighting Paradise Accessories - Pier 1/ IKEA Bathroom: Vanity - Factory Direct Accessories - Restoration Hardware Light - Home Depot Tub/Tile/Stone Trim - Home Depot Baselighting - Lighting Paradise Kitchen Minor Upgrades: Painted Cabinets Wall Tile and Stainless Trim - Tile Outlet Chrome Knobs and Handles - Restoration Hardware Overhead Light - Home Depot Cabinet/Baselighting - Lighting Paradise Future Plans: Stainless Appliances Renovation Project II - http://www.youtube.com http://www.youtube.com Renovation Project III - March 2012

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Tom Mulcrone - Renovation Project I - Video