“Young mothers today need to give their children more of their time,” said Louise Hunter, a Vicksburg native and current Racine, Wisc. resident.
Hunter, 75, earned the right to give today’s mothers some of her pearls of wisdom; she is the mother of 21 children (18 of whom are living today). She has 61 grandchildren and 55 great grandchildren.
“Mothers need to sit down and do things with their children; talk with them about everything, but first and foremost, make sure Jesus Christ is in their lives,” Hunter told The Mississippi Link recently. “Teach them not to wear their pants down. It’s not good. It definitely will not get you a job.”
Hunter advocates that Jesus and a good education are keys to success in life. She said she did not have the opportunity to get the education she would have liked, but she worked hard to make sure her children were educated.
In the late 1960s, she, her now deceased husband James Hunter, and 13 children were faced with home eviction during a cold Racine winter. Despite difficulties, she remained faithful. She recalled: “The sheriff came out to set us out that night, but God did not allow him to do that, and I asked if he would come back the next morning.” She said God touched a stranger’s heart who knocked on their door the next morning and offered them an 18-room house for $1. “I didn’t even have a dollar, and my husband didn’t even have a dollar,” she stated. “The man went into his billfold and gave us a dollar and said, ‘Now, this is your house.’”
Hunter said she knew it had to be divine intervention, so she asked God: “What will you have me to do for you?” She said the Lord gave her a vision to establish Love and Charity Homeless Mission in Racine, Wisc.
Love and Charity began as a club in June 1970. It was a ministry designed to distribute food and gospel tracks. She then expanded and opened the Widow’s Closet, a ministry for senior citizens. By the late 1970s, Louise started the Love and Charity Mission.
In 1978, she found herself dealing with the death of her husband. James Hunter was a native of Fayette, Miss.
Knowing that God’s work must continue despite life’s difficulties, in the late 1980s, she opened the House of Hope, a senior citizens mission. By the 1990s, Love and Charity II was opened in Memphis, Tenn. For decades, according to her biography, thousands of men, women, and children have been helped through the ministries established by the woman affectionately known around Racine as “Mother Hunter.”
God not only blessed her to successfully rear her children, but also allowed her motherly wisdom to impact others.
Paul Hunter, her 19th child, said growing up in his mother’s household was normal. “We did our share of sibling fighting like most children,” he said. “But we also learned to share. We had to share clothes, as well as our socks.”
Paul Hunter, a longtime employer of Chrysler, also owns a public relations business (Hunter19-PR). “I think mother did quite well with us,” he said.
He and his mother believe the Hunter children turned out quite well professionally and personally despite the many odds they had to overcome.
“I have brothers who are pastors in the South,” he said. He said there are siblings who are assembly workers, nurses and he has a sister who models professionally in California. “I have a brother who has a sober house [for those fighting additions] in Memphis,” he said.
Today, Louise Hunter and her husband Minister Eugene Milligan are still very active in the Love and Charity Mission Ministry. Minister Milligan travels back-and-forth between Racine and Memphis to oversee their homeless shelter and food pantry operations.
“Mother Hunter” has appeared on various television programs, featured in many articles, honored with her own holiday, received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Equal Rights award, and the prestigious Jefferson award.
She has also been heard on numerous radio programs. For Women’s History Month in March, WJSU Radio News Director L. A. Warren, who is also a Vicksburg native, interviewed her. “We spotlighted her because of her work in establishing a shelter for the homeless and widows while raising 21 children at the same time,” Warren said. “My impression of her was that although she may not have been formally educated, there was so much passion in her voice about her work.”
A book has also been written about her life and ministry called, “Love and Charity the Life of Mrs. Louise Hunter and the Love and Charity Homeless Shelter” (2005), written by Elder Dennis James Woods, founder of the Power of Holy Ghost Deliverance Ministries, Inc. of Blue Island, Ill.
Louise Hunter explained her accomplishments are not about her. “It’s all about helping people. Sure, we had a hard time, but like the Bible says, ‘together we stand; divided we fall.’ My ministry is telling women that you can make it with Him (God.).” Her desire is to get more opportunities to come back to her home state of Mississippi to speak and encourage people.
“Let ‘em know they can talk to me on Facebook,” she told The Mississippi Link with a hint of laughter in her voice.
She would also like people to know about their ongoing food ministry in Memphis. Interested persons may call 1-901-775-3110. Readers may also learn more about this untiring mother by logging on to the Hunter family website at www.hunterfamily21.com
Her children and the citizens of Racine are planning a huge celebration for Mother Hunter’s 76th birthday in Racine. “My birthday is June the 14, but the celebration is going to be June 11-13.
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