Last week, in the parking lot of a local fast food restaurant, I watched as two adults hurled obscenities and threats at one another. In broad daylight, over the hood of a running engine, a couple fought violently.
I surmised from the very loud shouting that the couple was in the process of exchanging physical custody of their son.
The man shoved and threatened the woman, "Don't you ever be late with my son again. I'll take him and you won't ever see him again."
The woman screamed back, "You can't never take my son from me... I'll kill you."
Many more words were exchanged, but none appropriate to write. However, the shouting and pushing were perhaps the least disturbing aspects of the whole event.
As I watched, trying to figure out what I could do, I noticed a small boy, no older than 2, standing confused, 10 feet from the car in the middle of the parking lot! The parents were so engrossed in yelling at one another they completely ignored the safety and wellbeing of their child.
I found it un-amusingly ironic that the very child the parents were arguing so desperately over was left defenseless in the path of oncoming cars.
Unfortunately, exchanges such as the one described above happen throughout our communities, at fast food restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores. When feuding parents meet to exchange custody of children, the children are often placed in high stress, dangerous environments.
Provident's Heritage House offers a safe, neutral alternative to gas stations and fast food parking lots. Heritage House, staffed by trained social workers and off duty police officers, is a supervised location where parents, through a court order, can exchange physical custody of their children.
Most importantly, Heritage House creates a safe exchange environment allowing children to maintain healthy relationships with both parents.
With the services offered through Heritage House, scenes as the one described above need never happen again.