A (Julie) Valentine's Day of Remembrance

On February 14th, 2025, The Wetter Family Foundation had the honor of attending the 15th Annual Julie Valentine Center Luncheon, an event that stands as a testament to the unbreakable spirit of survivors and the unwavering commitment to justice, healing, and prevention. The Julie Valentine Center exists to stop sexual violence and child abuse, to help survivors reclaim their voices, and to ensure that no one walks alone in the aftermath of trauma.

The center carries the name of an infant whose brief life became a symbol of an entire community’s resolve. A newborn, later named Julie Valentine, was found abandoned and deceased in a Greenville County field the day before Valentine’s Day. For more than 30 years, her identity remained unknown, yet the community adopted her as their own. In 2019, through the tireless work of law enforcement and dedicated advocates, her case was solved, revealing a heartbreaking truth: Julie had a sibling who suffered the same fate. Though their lives were stolen too soon, their memory fuels a movement that has saved hundreds of lives, offering hope where there was once only despair.

The luncheon’s keynote speaker, Chanel Miller, exemplifies what it means to turn wounds into wisdom. A former Stanford student, Miller found herself at the center of a high-profile sexual assault case, where the world witnessed not just the crime but also the failures of a system that too often silences victims. Her victim impact statement, read aloud in court, rippled across the globe, giving strength to survivors and leading to legal reforms that have forever changed the landscape of justice. Her memoir, Know My Name, is a battle cry for dignity, resilience, and the strength to reclaim one's story.

Miller’s powerful words capture her refusal to be defined by her darkness moment:

"I survived because I remained soft, because I listened, because I wrote. Because I huddled close to my truth, protected it like a tiny flame in a terrible storm. Hold up your head when the tears come, when you are mocked, insulted, questioned, threatened, when they tell you you’re nothing, when your body is reduced to openings. The journey will be longer than you imagined, trauma will find you again and again. Do not become the ones who hurt you. Stay tender with your power. Never fight to injure, fight to uplift. Fight because you know that in this life, you deserve safety, joy, and freedom. Fight because it is your life. Not anyone else’s. I did it, I am here. Looking back, all the ones who doubted or hurt or nearly conquered me faded away, and I am the only one standing. So now, the time has come. I dust myself off, and go on… He took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence and my own voice. Until today…"

Her story and those of countless others remind us that healing is not a solitary journey. It is built upon the courage of survivors, the advocacy of organizations like the Julie Valentine Center, and the unwavering belief that justice—though often delayed—is a cause worth fighting for.

The statistics around sexual violence paint a harrowing reality:

• Every 68 seconds in America, someone is sexually assaulted.

• Every 9 minutes, that person is a child.

• Out of every 1,000 perpetrators, only 25 will ever see the inside of a prison cell.

These numbers are more than statistics; they are lives forever altered by acts of unspeakable violence. While Julie Valentine may have never had the chance to speak, her name has become synonymous with the fight for justice. Chanel Miller’s voice has carried across the world, reminding us that silence is not an option. And every survivor who walks through the doors of the Julie Valentine Center is proof that no matter how deep the wound, healing is possible.

We must listen. We must believe. We must act. When we refuse to look away, when we refuse to stay silent, change happens.