Why were you led to start Martha’s Vineyard?
My husband, Dennis and I had moved to Pensacola to “slow down”.
Dennis had been an attorney and pastor in Indiana where we raised 5
children. I worked on a specialized neonatal-pediatric fl ight team for
almost 25 years in Louisville, KY. We also transferred high-risk moms
and cardiac patients.
In April of 2009, Martha and Steve Rouse were coming through
Pensacola on their way to Bike Fest in Panama City with another
couple on their bike behind them. Something sliced through their
back tire landing Martha in a coma and Steve in a wheelchair and air
cast when Dennis caught up with him and his family already in from
Tennessee. Dennis asked them where they were staying. “In a Comfort
Inn as long as they could.” Dennis invited all of them to our house.
While they were staying with us, I had a dream in which I was told to
sell our beautiful home, fi nd a home in a great location, call this home
“Martha’s Vineyard of Pensacola,” and take in families like the Rouse’s
the rest of our lives. I argued in my dream that the name was dumb,
that someone else could do this job much better than I, and that no one
would believe me anyway.
In August of 2009, we purchased the property. It needed work, but
14 months later with more than 150 volunteers, we took in our fi rst
family November 2010.
photos provided by
Martha’s Vineyard
Interview with Marty Tackett, Founder
Martha’s Vineyard
44 | VIPPensacola.com
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