- March 9, 2025
For Elva Thompson, it’s personal. She remembers it like it was yesterday.
She met her future husband when she was 15. Soon, they married, and the abuse began. He left her and her three children after 15 years. Finally, she was free.
As a domestic violence victim, Thompson looks back now on those long, tumultuous years, and she doesn’t want anyone else to have to suffer as she did.
“I was afraid to even open my mouth,” Thompson, now 42, said Monday. “When he left and abandoned us is when I opened up.”
In 2009, Thompson formed Precious Hearts Foundation Inc., a nonprofit that provides shelter and help for victims of domestic violence. Since then, it has served thousands of victims, Thompson said. There are two shelters — one in Flagler Beach for men and another in Palm Coast for women.
Precious Hearts has teamed up with several community programs to provide victims with counseling, food, housing, furniture, education and employment training.
On Saturday, the Precious Hearts Foundation and the D.I.V.A.S. Club will host a 3-mile walk to raise awareness for domestic violence and bullying.
“Bullying can lead to domestic violence,” Thompson said. “We can’t put an end to it completely, but this is a start.”
The walk will begin around 1 p.m. There will be vendors, food, live music and informational booths.
“I have been in their shoes,” she said. “I’ve come to someone for help, and you can’t get it, and that’s an awful feeling because you’re already low. Your spirit is broken, and your self-esteem is broken down. I’m going to extend my hand out to you and give you the help you need.”
For more, email [email protected] or call 313-5350.
