By Nadia C. Harmsen

Candles were lit, 25 in all, representing the lives lost in Massachusetts as a result of domestic violence in the last year.

Wednesday night’s annual meeting of the Cape Cod Center for Women began with remembering those victims.

Mary M. Starr, executive director of the center, and Rachael M. Nicholas, manager lit the candles one by one as the victims’ names and towns were recited to shelter residents, staff, and guests.

The 25 candle was for Elizabeth Lochtefeld, the Nantucket woman killed just last month. Her ex-boyfriend has been charged with the crime.

"Many of the male names you heard were fathers who stepped in front of their daughters to protect them,," said Ms. Nicholas.

The annual tally of victims has increased over the years; 19 people died last year and 10 the year before, Ms. Starr said.

During the meeting, Gale S. Johnson spoke about her time at the shelter and the children’s room that was a "sanctuary" for her and 4-year-old son, Paul.

The Cape Cod Center for women provides shelter for up to 90 days for women and children who are in imminent danger.

The 10 staff members and six volunteers helped 62 women and 81 children last year. Due to limited space, staff had to help 421 women find housing at other shelters.

The location of the facility is not disclosed in order to protect the women who are sheltered there.

Ms. Johnson was housed at the shelter before moving to Safe Harbor in Hyannis.

A year and a half have passed since Ms. Johnson left Safe Harbor. She now has a job and lives on her own, and her son is enrolled in preschool.

Shelter members also helped Ms. Johnson get her General Education Development diploma.

Ms. Johnson is just one of the 70 to 80 percent of women who remain free of violent situations six months after leaving the center’s program.

The shelter performs three-month and six-month follow-ups on residents after they leave, Ms. Starr said.

Following Ms. Johnson’s story, the center presented Dr. Gregory W. Parkinson of West Falmouth with its highest honor, the Phyllis Collette Award.

Ms. Collette was the founder of the center. After she died of cancer, her estate provided the down payment for the house in 1994.

Dr. Parkinson has been working in the shelter for three years, coming to their rescue when their previous pediatrician said he was no longer able to see children from the shelter

"To help someone in the office is great," Dr. Parkinson said. "To help someone in the community is even better."

In addition to being the shelter’s pediatrician, Dr. Parkinson and his wife, Sandra J. Parkinson, raised more than $3,600 by collecting pledges for running in the Falmouth Road Race.

The children’s room "is the heart of our home," Ms. Starr said. "It is a place where moms and children can just watch TV, play games, and talk."

The room was decorated as "the Farrelly Family Children’s Room" in recognition of the more than $325,000 the Farrelly family has raised on behalf of the shelter in their six years of involvement.

"We would not be here if it was not for their family," said Ms. Nicholas.

Dr. Robert L. Farrelly and his wife Mariann N. Farrelly of Mashpee, and their daughter-in-law Nancy Farrelly of Duxbury were present.

Nancy’s husband, Bobby Farrelly, and his brother Peter Farrelly, are movie producers with such films as "Dumb and Dumber" and "Shallow Hal" to their credit.

"People have paid $20,000 for a stand-in role in one of their movies," said Dr. Farrelly.

In addition, the brothers have used movie premieres such as the one for "Stuck On You" to raise money for the shelter.

The Farrelly brothers also have auctioned off autographed baseballs and other items to raise money, their father said.

The Farrellys are originally from Cumberland, Rhode Island and moved to Mashpee eight years ago.

They became involved in the shelter when Nancy Farrelly read an article in the Boston Globe about the shelter being forced to close because of a lack of funding.

"I told my family and everyone agreed this was a charity we wanted to donate money to," said Ms. Farrelly.

Several charities receive funding from the premieres, but a majority of the funds go to shelter, Dr. Farrelly said.

Also helping the shelter continue providing services are the Falmouth Service Center, Falmouth Road Race, Woods Hole Foundation, Community Foundation of Cape Cod, and many other organizations as well as individuals.

The shelter’s $400,000 budget helps provide counseling, child care and advocacy, housing and welfare advocacy, emergency transportation, and shelter.

Also in the budget is the $900 monthly mortgage and a 24-hour hotline, which received 1,012 calls last year.

Approximately one half of the budget comes from federal and state funding; the rest is from fundraising, private grants, and donations, said Ms. Starr.

Ms. Starr said the shelter is always in need of volunteers and donations are welcome.
Checks can be made out to the Cape Cod Center for Women, PO Box 141, North Falmouth, MA 02556.

More information is available by calling 1-800-745-003 or by going to their website at www.CapeCodShelter.org

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This article ran in the Falmouth Enterprise on Friday, 11/19/04, on Page 7.

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