“Listen to the Women”
Released: March,2008 a B.J. Gudmundsson Film.
Gloria Martin was born in 1942 in Anaconda, Montana. Her hometown was filled with immigrants who worked at the copper smelter.
“My grandmother came from Croatia in 1901. In my early life she really influenced me. She taught me to believe that this country was a great place and that it was a place where people could come to make a new life.”
Gloria was also influenced by the Catholic social justice philosophy that “we have an obligation to help the poor. It is something that has stayed with me all of my life.”
Gloria’s passion for social justice led her to spend the past 21 years caring for the victims of family violence and abuse, educating the public on the enormity of the problem and advocating for better laws and policies to protect people and build safer and stronger families in West Virginia.
In 1995 Martin traveled to Beijing, China, as part of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. She served as co-chair of the WV Coalition Against Domestic Violence and received the Diane Reese Award. She co-chaired the WV Women’s Commission and in 2007 received the WV State Bar Association Public Citizen Award.
The Family Refuge Center serves victims of family violence and sexual assault in Pocahontas, Greenbrier and Monroe Counties. Gloria Martin retired as Executive Director in 2008. She and her husband, Bill, live in Lewisburg, West Virginia. They have four children.
“Some people live by themselves, but I really believe that we were meant to be together. Our community will only be as good as the people who are in it. Probably now in our history more than ever – we really need to take care of one another.” Gloria Martin
The Shepherd’s Center of Greenbrier Valley
The 2008 Community Service Award
Time: 44 minutes
Format: DVD
Price: $20.00