First lady to lead walk across state
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She’s completed 13 marathons as a walker, along with countless other shorter races.
And in the early days after her husband, Gov. Phil Bredesen, took office, Conte was known for wearing out state troopers assigned to trail her as she walked some 50 miles a week on the roads around her home.
It was on one of those long walks a year ago that she thought, “There must be a way to use this to help raise awareness” for another of her passions — the state’s child advocacy centers.
This week, that idea becomes reality when Conte begins leading a 600-mile trek across Tennessee to help raise $1 million for the state’s 25 centers, which aid young victims of sexual or severe physical abuse.
The walk kicks off Wednesday in Memphis, and Conte plans to cover 10 to 15 miles a day on her way to each of the centers. She and her group will make it to the Cookeville center in mid-November before taking a winter break.
The journey is set to resume in February with a goal of arriving in Blountville, home of the state’s first such facility, by May 1.
For Conte, the walk is an extension of one of her top priorities since her husband’s election almost two years ago — victims’ rights.
The child advocacy centers, a nationwide initiative, were first established in Huntsville, Ala., in 1985 as a one-stop approach to investigating abuse in a child-friendly atmosphere.
The centers bring together all the players in an investigation — from law enforcement to health professionals to state Department of Children’s Services officials — so that the child only has to tell his or her story once. They also offer crisis intervention, counseling for children and their families, and court advocacy services.
“If you’ve ever gone through the criminal justice system as an adult, it’s intimidating,” Conte said. “Can you imagine being a child?”
Conte’s interest in victims’ rights stems in part from an attack she survived in 1988.
The diminutive Conte was arriving at a gourmet cooking store she owned when she was kidnapped in the parking lot by a man twice her size. He pistol-whipped her and forced her into his car. Conte struggled to get free, finally managing to jump out the back door. She suffered a broken cheekbone and hand, and several bruises and cuts.
The attacker was caught a year later after he murdered a young woman in Percy Warner Park.
Five years after the attack, Conte founded a victims’ rights advocacy group called “You Have the Power … Know How to Use It.” Her organization is one of three statewide — including the Tennessee Chapter of Child Advocacy Centers and the first lady’s official office — responsible for the walk.
“It’s no secret that I was a victim of violent crime a few years ago,” Conte says. “As a result of that, I went through the criminal justice system. It’s hard to go through that, because it’s not a system that the average person understands.
“If you are outside of it, it doesn’t make any sense. … There’s a need out there. People want information.”
About 100 people are expected to participate in some portion of the walk’s first leg — Memphis to Covington — at a cost of $35 each. Organizers’ goal for the entire trip: 3,000 walkers.
Conte and her group have recruited a who’s who of Tennessee businesses as sponsors of the walk. Hospital giant HCA and insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield were both named “platinum” contributors for their $50,000 donations.