Out of her own personal nightmare of living in a violent marriage for years Wanda M. Fletcher / Hurt is passionate in her mission to rebuild the lives of abused women and children. A victim of an abusive relationship, Hurt, escaped the domestic violence trap several years ago, along with her two sons. She is now training for a 400-mile journey down Florida’s east coast to raise $ 1 million for victims of this heinous crime. A few friends and her two adult sons will accompany her. They’ll be twittering along the route and inviting people to ride along as they pass through neighborhoods. On the morning of July 8, they’ll finish up with a ride through the streets of Fort Myers, ending up in Centennial Park.

Busy sending out e-mails and letters to domestic violence shelters, television stations and social organizations, Ms. Hurt is hopeful that the issue will receive much-needed and urgent attention. The money raised will be used to support community groups, like the non-profit she founded in Fort Myers last year, Mary’s House of Hope a 10-bedroom duplex where women and children can escape and move on.

A realtor, Ms. Hurt has lived in Fort Myers for about 14 years. She started the process of creating Mary’s House of Hope in 2005, and it opened last summer. Now she’s spending most of her time and resources working on the house. “It’s near and dear to my heart,” she said, because it was spawned by a bleak time in her life. She has survived an abusive relationship, including beatings. Even after she finally left her husband, he later kidnapped her youngest son and set her house on fire.

Constant phone calls from local shelters regarding space for families escaping domestic violence, Hurt believes, are an indication of what’s going on with the stress levels of not only women but also the men in our country. “It was a while back that I started thinking about doing this,” Ms. Hurt said. “During these economic times we realize it’s hard to ask people to donate, but its imperative we raise money for our ministry right now. So I thought, I’ll do a bicycle ride and ask everybody to donate just $1. I prayed about this for a while.”
Ms. Hurt will begin her ride July 1. Not coincidently, she’ll be pedaling on Independence Day, in honor of women who free themselves from the fear that can immobilize them in abusive relationships. There are also plans to film the trip for a documentary; and she’ll be discussing the increasing numbers of domestic violence victims with people who run domestic violence shelters throughout the state.

Support Wanda Hurt in her efforts and log onto www.maryshouseofhope.org to donate your $1.

Image courtesy –www.maryshouseofhope.org