Their Mother's Memory Lives On In Advocacy, Help For Victims

MELROSE, MA — Even doing good can be a painful reminder for Amata Matarazzo and her family.

Just a week before Christmas 2018 and four days after her 50th birthday, Ersilia Cataldo Matarazzo's life was taken as she sat in her car. Her estranged husband shot her multiple times in the driveway of her parents' Everett home.

Now Amata Matarazzo works with other members of her family to make sure other women have resources hers didn't. It's incredibly rewarding work — but brings up hard memories.

"It's difficult because it's a constant reminder that my mother is no longer here, but I think it's important and something my mother would want us to do," she said during a Thursday phone interview.

The family will be recognized for its efforts at the Melrose Alliance Against Violence ahead of its 26th Anniversary Walk & Candlelight Vigil, receiving MAAV's 11th Annual Advocacy in Action Award. The walk is Sunday, Oct. 24, at 4 p.m. outside the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School.

Any domestic violence victims who need help can find resources right here.

Ersilia's family and friends — with the help of the Everett Kiwanis Club — established the Orange Rose Foundation, a nonprofit that helps raise money and awareness for victims of domestic violence. The foundation's vision: "To remove the stigma associated with domestic violence and to one day see a time when all victims feel empowered to seek help and end living in fear."

There's now a scholarship for Everett High graduates and a stabilization program in Ersilia's name at Portal of Hope, a regional nonprofit that also advocates for and supports victims.

Through the Cataldo family's work, victims have gotten the support they've needed to get safe.

"A lot of victims are in a situation where it's hard for them to leave, they have children," Amata Matarazzo said. "I know my mother was in that situation, too."

So the family and foundation raises money to help victims pay gas bills, car insurance, rent, transportation, cell phones and other resources. Sometimes they get victims and their children into shelters.

And for some people, it's just letting them know they're seen.

"I think for me the biggest thing is that they're not alone," Matarazzo said. "I know from my own personal experience, people would say 'I don't get it, you're mom had a huge family, you three kids, why didn't she get the help that she needed?' My biggest thing is never to judge, to be more understanding. To learn from a tragedy like this to know what can I do next time."

People don't need to be an expert in domestic violence or law enforcement or legislative advocacy to make a difference. Things like supporting Sunday's MAAV Walk is a start.

"Anything we can do to help," Matarazzo said. "Any little thing."

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi and Instagram at Melrose Happening. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.