A ribbon cutting by the Durant Area Chamber of Commerce was held for the Crisis Control Center’s new office. Matt Swearengin | Durant Democrat Mark Idell, right, of the Durant Police Department, was named the Domestic Violence Officer of the Year by the Crisis Control Center. Also shown from left, David Cathey, District Attorney’s Office; Stephanie Luke, CCC interim executive director; Officer of the Year candidate Josh Mullins, Durant Police Department; Officer of the Year candidate Roy Hummel, Choctaw Lighthorse Police; Morgan Smith, CCC community relations officer and advocate; Officer of the Year candidate Shelby Boyd; Bokchito Police Department; Officer of the Year candidates Nathan Price and Bradley Nelson, both of the Durant Police Department. Matt Swearengin | Durant Democrat
A ribbon cutting from the Durant Area Chamber of Commerce was held for the Crisis Control Center’s new office at 50 W. Liveoak St. and the domestic violence officer of the year was named during ceremonies last week.
In August, CCC moved into this building owned and refurbished by the Jason and Heather Brewer family to be used as a sporting goods store and when the store closed, the building became available for rent. Originally, it was the Pentecostal Holiness Church, a congregation now known as Abundant Life Texoma.
After last week’s ribbon cutting, Morgan Smith, CCC community relations officer and advocate, announced that Mark Idell of the Durant Police Department was the Domestic Violence Officer of the Year.
“The idea of doing an officer of the year award came to me when I was trying to answer a question and that question is, how can I strengthen the relationship between advocates and offi cers,” Smith said. “The answer’s really simple: I want to appreciate and honor the officers who go above and beyond for victims of domestic violence. Small stones make the largest ripples. What I’ve come to realize during this process is there are so many outstanding officers who truly care about our clients.
“They are truly wonderful and for that, we are very grateful. It has brought to mind one of my favorite quotes by Jane Goodall, ‘What you do makes a difference. You have to decide what kind of difference you want to make,’ and all of these officers here tonight are making the best kind of difference.”
Smith said that Idell is compassionate, technically proficient and always on point with compliance of The Victim Rights Act. She said he makes the phone calls to advocates and makes well-reasoned decisions on dominant aggressor determinations all while being consistent.
Stephanie Luke, who has been CCC’s interim executive director since July, spoke of the board and staff members she said she is so blessed to be a part of.
“Morgan has been here two years,” Luke said. “She is our Choctaw liaison and if you don’t know, Choctaw provides us with Morgan’s position and we are so thankful for that.”
Luke talked about the history of the agency that assists victims of domestic and sexual abuse.
“The Crisis Control Center was started in 1986 and it started as a little building off Third Street,” she said. “The old shelter was beside Love’s. A lot of people tell me stories of the Haynie building, the ghosts that walked the halls and the night that the bomb went off.
“I think it was about 15 years ago, they built a new undisclosed location and in that, we have four family rooms that houses anywhere from 12 to 15 clients at a time. A client may be an individual woman or she may have three or four children with her. This place that you’re in now is a place that we were able to rent from the Brewer family.”
Luke said that upon learning the building was an old church, it had a vibe for CCC. It also has more room to store donations so clients can pick out what they need.
“We saw a vision of having people here and having a place to meet them when they were the most broken,” Luke said. “So, we have place for their children. We have a place for a survivor closet.”
Luke thanked the Brewer family and partners such as the chamber of commerce and law enforcement officers.
“You guys are part of our family and you’re what allow us to do our work and I’m so thankful for that,” Luke said.
Every Friday, CCC has coffee with first responders and she invited them to stop by and have a cup of coffee.
“There’s a lot of relationship building that we’re trying to do with you guys,” Luke said.
Also, CCC is offering personal finance and safety/selfdefense classes for clients.
“We are really focused on bringing healing to our people … whether it’s help with the law enforcement to bring calm to a situation or it’s our advocates sitting with them,” Luke said. “It’s not all happy times when you’re here but we are hoping for happy successes and that’s why we do what we do.”
In addition to Bryan County, the agency serves Atoka, Johnston and Marshall counties.
