I would like to share my encounter with childhood abuse. From the ages of 11 to 17 I attended five different Independent Fundamental Baptist programs for troubled teens. I came from an abusive home. My childhood was stolen from me. My adoptive mother was physically and emotionally abusive towards me and my three other siblings. When my adoptive mother Mary got cancer my aunt took me in for a short period until she placed me in my first Troubled Teen Industry (TTI) program called Charity Haven in Milton, Florida. The program was run by Dave and Norma Walkden. They owned and operated two separate programs located in Texas and Florida. I was told I would be with my sister to get me to comply with going to this program. That was a lie. We were separated; my sister was in the Texas program called Victory Acres while I was in Charity Haven in Florida.  While I attended this program I was subjected to religious cult beliefs forced upon us girls. If you refused to be saved and follow the program they would stick you in a room they called the prayer room and play brainwashing sermons and music through the speakers. There was no bathroom in this room; you could only be out of the room to use the restroom a couple times a day. They took away your privileges to shower with shampoo and conditioner and would give you only a bar of soap to wash your hair and body with and a tiny comb and a rubber band to fix your hair . I attended this program for maybe about six months. 

One day Norma, whom we were told to call Mama Hen, loaded me up in the van with the other girls, I wasn’t allowed to have shoes on because they didn’t want me to try to run away. They drove me to Lucedale, Mississippi to Bethel Boys and Girls Academy, a military school run by Herman Fountain Sr. While I attended Bethel we were forced to do extensive hours of calisthenics as a form of punishment to wear us out. When I arrived Herman Fountain Sr. and Drill Sergeant William Knott greeted me by yelling and spitting in my face and physically pushing me around to the point I fell backwards and attempted to force me to do calisthenics until I could no longer do them. I was 11 years old . I stayed in this program until I was 12 1/2 . My adoptive father came to get me because my mother was dying . I stayed at home for 6 months. The week after my adoptive mother died, I came home from school and my aunt had my bags packed and told me I would be returning back to Bethel. I was 13 years old at this point. By now the girls dorm in Petal was finished so the girls were moved off the boys property in Lucedale. I stayed at Bethel till I was 14 years old. I ran away for Bethel with 2 other girls who left me a laundry mat by myself after I fell asleep. I was scared and called the programs director Herman Fountain Jr who was running the girls home with his wife Dodie Fountain to pick me up. We went back and I was forced into a solitary cement room . Herman would often make racist comments about me being biracial and would call me little nigger baby,” half-breed” and :mutt.” He was openly racist to Black girls when they arrived at the program. He would say ”do you know what we do to your kind here in Mississippi?“ During the day I was made to stand in the corner for days on end, sleep deprived, bathroom denied . Forced to dig a tree stump up with a teaspoon, corporal  punishment with a wooden paddle.

One day Dodie loaded me up in a van and drove me to Lucedale from Petal, Mississippi. When we arrived I saw Dave Walkden there with four other girls. I was told I would be going with him to his program he reopened in North Carolina called Victory Acres. This program was soon shut down by Children Services. While all the other girls were placed in the care of their families, my aunt came and picked me up and drove me back to Charity Haven. Me and one other girl were the only ones there. The other girl eventually went home. I woke up to Bill MacNamara standing beside my bed telling me to come with him, and warned me that if I did not comply he would tie me up and drag me out by my hai . I complied and got in the van. He reopened a program called the Rebekah Home for Girls and renamed it New Beginnings Girls Academy after the State of Texas forced them to close. While he was trying to find a permanent dorm for us we stayed on the property of Thanks To Calvary Boys Academy in Devils Elbow, Missouri. Bill eventually found a permanent place for the girls home in Florida. 

While I was there my basic human rights were denied such as shower privileges revoked for two months at a time, sleep deprivation by forcing me to stand at attention at the end of my bed. While the rest of the girls were allowed to sleep from 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM, I had to stand there from 9:00 PM to 4:00 AM and was only allowed to sleep from 4:00 AM to 5:00 AM.  

I was held down by other girls while Bill MacNamara spanked me. He told me I was demon possessed and shined a flashlight in my eyes for what seemed like an hour and poured dish soap into my mouth and laughed at me as I threw up and forced me to clean it up with my hands. He called me a worthless slut (I was a virgin by the way.) He told me I was just like my sister Beverly who he knew from his days working in Dave Walden’s home in Texas. He told me that nobody wanted me and I would be there forever. This broke me and I became more defiant than ever in hopes he would just get rid of me like all the rest of the programs have done in the past . One day out of the blue I was allowed to shower weeks after I had attempted to shower without permission. I was told to walk into his office, I saw a lady sitting there with a pen and pad. She asked me if I had been abused.  I thought to myself why is she asking me in front of my abusers so they can just deny it – something I was familiar with from my home life before the programs . So I did what I was always conditioned to do in fear that I would just not be believed because I was labeled a trouble kid. I lied and said no. She then proceeded to ask me if I had any family who would take me in. I told her no because I didn’t know of any who wanted me and I didn’t know where my siblings were, who all were over the age of 18 by now. I told her to take me to Reclamation Ranch run by Jack Patterson. I remembered him from several church  revivals we attended while in the programs. I remembered him as the funny street preacher who opened up a girls home. He seemed kind. A couple days later Bill drove me to Tennessee where I went to Reclamation Ranch Rachel Girls Academy. By this time I was 15 years old. As I got into the van, a girl threatened me and told me not to run away. I laughed at her. At first it wasn’t so bad. The food was good and I had privileges  to shower and sleep. I often would get in trouble for stupid things like not saying “yes,ma’am” or unfinished tasks. The form of punishment was spankings with a wooden paddle, I was forced down to ground because I would not allow them to spank me. Other girls held me down as I fought them off me . Ms. Trudy who ran the girls dorm would also have us do calisthenics and wood pile for punishments.. Wood pile is where you carry a large piece of wood from one end of the back yard to the other, drop it, and pick it back up and carry it as you reach each end for long extensive periods of time. One girl even passed out . Another who ran away when she was caught and brought back was beaten up by other girls while Ms. Trudy sat there until she felt it was enough, the girl’s face covered in bruises. They attempted to hide them with heavy makeup so that church members wouldn’t see the bruises. 

I could go on and on, there is so much more abuse that took place in these Independent Fundamental Baptist Girls Homes. I have been diagnosed with Complex PTSD, depression and anxiety. I often still have nightmares about what took place while I attended these programs. The thought that places like this still exist saddens my heart. I want to help make a difference by speaking up and spreading awareness about places like this. By sharing my story is the first step in making a difference.