Victoria (Vickie) Lynn Fullen is the director of Care/Help of Sulphur. She was born in Portland, Oregon where her father,Victor Moczulski, still lives. His parents were born in Poland. Her mother, Nancy Coggins, is of Irish descent and now lives in Bakersfield, California.
Fullen's high school years were spent in Bakersfield where she graduated from East Bakersfield High. She has one younger brother who lives in Vancouver, Canada.
"In Oregon I was involved in sports--softball and track. I was the second fastest girl in my junior high. Then I changed my interests in high school.
"I studied health occupations so I could work in a hospital. My senior year I received on the job training. I worked six months as a ward clerk and six months as an EKG technician in the emergency room of the county hospital. I worked with prisoners. After high school, I continued to work in the emergency room. I decided against that career," Fullen said.
"I went to the Ameritech College in Bakersfield to learn computerized accounting. I had a degree a year later. I worked off hours as a cashier to have money.
"After graduation, I went into the real job field. I was administrative assistant of Computerland for two years.
"That's when I met Jeff Fullen through mutual friends. I was 19 and he was 28. We dated, were engaged for a year, and then married. I was 21 years old. We married on a Friday the 13th and lived in apartment number 13! It must have been a lucky number for us," Fullen said.
Her husband was a deckhand in the oilfield. He decided to go to school to be a HVACR technician--heating, ventilation and cooling refrigeration.
His father and mother lived in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
"We came here on the Amtrak train--putting everything we owned in storage. We were here for a month and he was hired for a job with Wing Air Conditioning. After six months, he went to Sears and had been there 13 years and was laid off. So now he's at SOWELA. He wants to get his bachelor of science degree in process technology. He wants to be an operator at the plants.
"When we first moved here we moved in with his parents. We lived with them for five months until we bought our home. I worked for Brown & Root for one year. They wanted me to travel for them and I wanted to work here.
"We were attending Faith Temple Church. I knew Lana Hafner, a volunteer here at Care/Help. She asked me to volunteer for a Christmas Program in 1996.
"They were looking for a full time director. They had volunteers doing social service and needed a full time worker. I was hired in June of 1997 as full time social service director," Fullen said with a smile.
"It's so different working here. It's a job where you have the authority to help anyone who walks through the door. I can help with food, clothes, household items, appliances, furniture, anything a family needs. The only criteria I have to adhere to is that the person be a Sulphur resident," she said.
The Wise Penny thrift store helps generate funds that can be used to give emergency assistance to Sulphur residents. She is store manager and has worked with the volunteers to improve the arrangement of the merchandise.
"We are volunteer based. If we didn't have them, we couldn't survive. And we do need more help, not only at peak times, like holidays or the beginning of school, but all year long. If someone can just give an hour, we appreciate it. When volunteers come to us they make friends. Some come in pairs and work together. They can know that we are a good Christian based organization and a happy family, really. We do need younger volunteers for our program. There are some things younger people can do that our older volunteers are unable to do physically," Fullen said.
Care Help has 75 active volunteers. They perform a number of services. There are drivers to pick up merchandise, workers to sort and price the items, cashiers and workers to run the store.
There are ten paid employees who are doing jobs that have to be done. Their jobs are paid because they are more business oriented, and they are needed to keep the system running. There's a warehouse manager, a maintenance person, and two processors to take in new items.
Volunteer Wheels and More is the newest program. That program will be available for handicapped or disabled citizens. The assistance is for anyone in Sulphur who has no transportation. The new program will help these people get to medical appointments or other necessary places.
"We make an evaluation for recipients to verify their need. We also use applications and a background check for our volunteer drivers. We do need more volunteers for this new program," Fullen said.                                      
"I have a 24 year old stepson, Jeffery, who now lives in Oklahoma. He was a student at E K Key Elementary and at Sulphur High School. Hunter Fullen is my four year old grandson. And we have two dogs, Tammy and Sara, and a cat, Samantha," she laughed.
"My father-in-law is an evangelical preacher. He talked to me about his beliefs as soon as I moved here. I listened, but not seriously. Then one day we had a drive to make in his pick-up truck. It was just the two of us. I was led to the Lord by him that day. I tell everyone I was saved in a pick-up truck in Louisiana," Fullen laughed.
Fullen laughs much and her eyes sparkle. She spoke seriously, but with a happy laugh.
"After that, my life changed forever!"
"I know one thing that my dad always taught me, 'Treat others as you would like to be treated.'
"I've learned that you only live once, so don't think about what other people think because you'll never know who you truly are.
"And always keep faith in God because He is the only one you can always depend on," Fullen smiled while her eyes sparkled.
She obviously enjoys life.