Thank you for writing a story about the dark secret in your community, Hephzibah House.
I am writing as a former student at Hephzibah House between 1989 and 1991. My name is Alicia Hamilton, and after being released from Hephzibah House, I eventually was adopted by my loving grandparents who allowed me to contact the South Bend Tribune when I noticed a small article about a girl in Hephzibah house and a custody battle in which her father was trying to have her removed from the place.
As a result, I released much information about my abuse there in 1993 to three different newspapers; I also called the Winona Lake Police department, left a "report" with an officer over the phone and was told "we will look into it, you do not need to do anything more, we will contact you if we need more information."
I thank you for re-visiting the matter of Hephzibah House by publishing in your paper about former students' stories. I also write out of concern that in the past, as a 14 year old, I did everything I could to make the abusive nature of the place known, and nothing was done.
Thank you for listening to me and hearing about my previous efforts as I think that my efforts in 1993 and the lack of response by the local police to do anything about this place, or to even call me back for more information, is something the community should know about. Sometimes I wonder if Ron Williams sends some of his donation money (1.5 million a year) to some people in the right positions to keep Hephzibah House away from investigation.
My testimony/survivor statement is here under the name "Alicia Cornish": http://formerhephzibahgirls.webs.com/survivorstatements.htm
