ALTON - The 18th Domestic Violence Memorial Service honored two Madison County residents who were lost to domestic violence this year.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
Roadecker “Roe” Watts and Amy Lynn Delacruz were remembered during the memorial service on Oct. 29, 2024. The service also recognized the 49,651 Illinois residents who received direct domestic violence client services between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024.
“We’re here to remember those who have lost their lives here in Madison County over the last year,” said Pastor Jim Johnston. “What happens to them happens to us. It affects us, and that’s why we feel the need to have organizations like what we have to address the needs of the people, but also the justice of the people.”
The annual memorial service took place at Alton Memorial Hospital. In addition to recognizing those who have been lost, people with lived experience told their stories. Those who work with domestic violence survivors also came together to share their work with the community.
Minister Joyce Elliott led a prayer for the victims, caregivers and workers against domestic violence. Mary Cordes, the president of Oasis Women’s Center Board of Directors, read Watts’s and Delacruz’s names. The Great Rivers Choral Society sang “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”
Circuit Criminal Judge Kyle Napp in the Third Judicial Circuit Court shared stories of several domestic violence survivors who she has worked with during her career.
“In my years as a prosecutor and a judge, I met with many victims of domestic violence, and I found a number of things to be true,” Napp said. “They come in all races and all ages. They are women and men. They are boys and they are girls. They are elderly with kind smiles and they are babies too young to talk. They come from wealthy families and they come from poor families. They have dropped out of high school and they have college degrees. They are mothers and daughters and granddaughters and sisters and sons and brothers and husbands and nieces and nephews. They walk among us.”
Judge Maureen Schuette in the Third Judicial Circuit Court echoed Napp. She voiced her appreciation for the people who work with domestic violence survivors in the community.
“In 1996, the Third Judicial Circuit had a mission,” Schuette said. “We had a mission to eliminate family violence and a mission to create services for victims and perpetrators of child abuse, elder abuse and family abuse. And as you all know, our service activities over the years have varied, but our mission has always remained the same, to remember those who have been victims, to honor and heal those who have survived, and to connect those who work to end and prevent violence to better serve those in need.”
Michaeleen Gaskins shared her own story of surviving domestic violence. The evening concluded with a speech from Madison County Coroner Stephen P. Nonn, who will retire in December. Nonn introduced his presumed successor Nick Novacich, and both men spoke briefly on their goals to help eliminate domestic violence.
“For decades, actually centuries, society has permitted the tragedy and outright horrors of domestic violence,” Nonn said. “Despite our efforts and our best intentions, we still have victims. The stories they tell in their survival are heartbreaking. Worse still are the victims that have no survival story to tell. That’s the ones that my office is involved in. That’s who we give voice to at that point in time. It is our job as the coroner’s office to give that victim a voice, and that’s what we do, and we make sure that their voice is heard loud and strong.”
This year’s program was sponsored by the Third Judicial Circuit Family Violence Prevention Council, Alton Memorial Hospital Domestic Violence Team, Oasis Women’s Center, Zonta Club of Alton-Wood River, Church Women United, Land of Lincoln Legal Aid, Inc., Riverbend Head Start & Family Services, Riverbend Family Ministries, Refuge, Metro East Every Survivor Counts, and Madison County Child Advocacy Center.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, read this article on RiverBender.com for information about local resources. You can also call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.
More like this:
