Since the dawn of humanity, stories have been means of communication, not only to convey an individual point, but also to impart cultural values, moral codes and universal truths.
Greg Hathcock, the owner of the Grazing Bull restaurant in Capitan, has stories of training horses, bar backing in Las Vegas and winning over his high school track team as a poor country boy. He has ideals, values, opinions, and advice for life and how to live it. He knows his story can help others write better versions of their own.
Shannon Davis, a resident advocate at The Nest, recently met Hathcock in Capitan while she was doing community outreach. Davis learned that he grew up in a violent home, that he takes care to stand up for others and that he has a passion for talking with others. He offered to volunteer with The Nest and share his story with the residents.
“It would be a privilege to help. If my words can help even one person, I’ll just be over the moon,” Hathcock said. “I want to help build people up and help them believe that they can do anything. Anything you believe in can come to pass.”
Hathcock claimed power over himself and his life and wants to inspire and empower others to do the same. “I want to inspire people. It is such a privilege and a blessing to be able to help someone.”
Hathcock and his right-hand woman and manager of Grazing Bull, Kalyn Sheffield, will be visiting The Nest over the coming weeks to speak with the women and children as they work toward creating new lives, writing the coming chapters of their stories and freeing themselves from their violent pasts.
Empowerment and inspiration like Hathcock’s are crucial aspects of the national Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), which is in October. Nationally, organizations will mobilize to build awareness of the roots and causes of domestic violence and to identify solutions that will support survivors, with the goal being to end domestic violence in our communities.
As part of DVAM, Help End Abuse for Life and The Nest will be hosting several events to effect necessary changes within the community of Lincoln County. The events kick off during the Aspenfest Parade on October 5. Several courageous men from Lincoln County and Mescalero, including HEAL’s male board members, will wear women’s red high heels and walk with the HEAL float in the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” outreach effort, calling attention to gender-based violence.
HEAL’s annual Empty Bowl Event will be held at Mountain Annie’s Center for the Arts on October 6 at 4 p.m. It includes soup competitions for amateurs and professionals, a tasting of over 30 soups, a People’s Choice voting of the champion soups and a silent auction of pottery bowls made by local artists. Tickets are $15 and will be sold at the door.
On October 7 at 6 p.m., The Nest will host its annual Candlelight Vigil to honor survivors and mourn those whose lives have been lost due to domestic violence. It will be held in the shelter and is closed to the public. HEAL board and staff members will join the residents of the Nest as they celebrate the spirit of healing after domestic violence. Luminarias, decorated by the children, will be lit during the vigil, each light representing the life of someone known and lost to intimate partner violence.
Pictured are Greg Hathcock and Kalyn Sheffield, newest volunteers at The Nest.
