A.D. Ibarra
-Wintergarden
Women's Shelter

    Carolina Gonzalez of the Wintergarden Women's Shelter informed The News Gram of the fact that their offices are now open at the Nick Carr Center in Pueblo Nuevo where they are ready to continue to service the citizens of Maverick County.
    When informed of the fact that the issue of Domestic Violence in our country is at t he forefront with the cases of several prominent NFL players being dealt with severely by Commissioner Roger Goodell, Gonzalez says that they need to address this issue.
    "They need to.  No one deserves to be abused.  We women have the same rights men do and we need to defend ourselves, and we need to stop the violence in our relationships," said the Victim Advocate and Community Educator for the shelter, "Not only do we defend women, but we also have had cases where husbands too are living in an abusive situation.  It takes a lot of courage to come forward.  How many times do you need to forgive your partner for this abuse before you do something about it.  We encourage our clients to file charges the first time."
    Gonzalez took the opportunity to thank local law enforcement agencies in being prompt to report to the scenes of these cases which she says is a big help in deterring such behavior.
    "I would like to thank Mr. Guajardo (Eagle Pass Police Chief) and Sheriff Schmerber.  Anytime we need anything, they are there to protect our clients."
    The shelter also is reaching out to secondary schools to address the issue of teenage dating and the violence and abuse that occurs in these relationships by going to both Eagle Pass Junior High and Memorial High School to talk to these kids and let them know that the priority in their lives at this point is to get the best education they can before ever worrying about trivial things like a boyfriend or girlfriend at this age.
    "The boyfriend tells the girlfriend what to wear what friends to have, where to go and where not to.  They tend to listen more to their boyfriend than to their parents and we need to protect our kids, we need  to take time to talk to them to see where they are going and who they are associating with."