Glenda Cook, Belleville, Michigan (Give Back Day Hero): advocate for battererd women

from coverage in Free Press, Detroit, MI


Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born 82 years ago, on Jan. 15, 1929, and the nation pauses today for the 25th annual celebration of his birthday.
Among those celebrating will be metro Detroiter Glenda Cook, one of four Americans chosen as Give Back Day Heroes. Cook, who was selected for her work with victims of domestic abuse, was honored during the weekend in Atlanta at the King Center's Salute to Greatness banquet.
Although her work is different from his, she demonstrates something King believed: Everyone can make a difference. Everyone can do his or her part to improve his or her life and the lives of others.
"I couldn't believe I was being compared to such a great, great person," said Cook of Belleville.
When she was a little girl and heard her mother scream, Glenda Cook knew what was happening. Again. Her stepfather was beating her mother.
Usually, she and her three siblings cowered in the bedroom of their Detroit home and waited for it to be over.
But one evening, Cook peeked into the kitchen and saw something she will never forget: Her stepfather was stomping on her mother, who lay on the kitchen floor.
"I was 8 or 9 years old," Cook said. "I felt so helpless." She was so traumatized that even though she managed to dial 911, she couldn't speak. Fortunately, the operator overheard her mother's screams and sent police.
Cook carries that image with her as an advocate for victims of domestic violence, which she says is more of a calling than a job. She says it's her role to turn victims into survivors who thrive. She gives victims -- most of whom are women -- a road map to a better life and encouragement to get there. And she's step by step with them along that journey.


Read more: King Day: Advocate for domestic abuse victims in Detroit wins national honor
freep.com
Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/article/20110117/FEATURES01/101170348/King-Day-Advocate-for-domestic-abuse-victims-in-Detroit-wins-national-honor#ixzz1BJMxLJzV