Crime Victim Services

Homicide Outreach Project Empowering Survivors (HOPES)

Through the Wendt Center’s Homicide Outreach Project Empowering Survivors (HOPES) Program we provide comfort and support, information and practical assistance to families, individuals, and communities coping with homicide-related deaths. Services are provided by licensed clinicians, program staff, and carefully trained volunteers with expertise in the areas of trauma, grief and loss, and child and family therapy.

RECOVER

Our RECOVER Program at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner enables Wendt Center clinicians to provide crisis response, emotional support, education and referral services to adults who must identify their deceased loved one. Our clinical staff continues to check in with families several weeks following the homicide to see how they are doing. This support is especially valuable to people suffering a homicide-related death. For more information contact Stephanie Handel, RECOVER Program Coordinator, (202) 204-5008 or shandel@wendtcenter.org.

DC Crisis Response Team (CRT)

The DC Crisis Response Team (CRT) is comprised of carefully screened and highly trained volunteers who respond to the varied needs of families following the sudden and/or traumatic death of a loved one. When there is a homicide, or other sudden and traumatic death in Washington, DC, the CRT receives notification from the Wendt Center's RECOVER Program staff at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. They are then able to attend to the family members by making a home visit and providing emotional support, comfort and practical assistance to help adults and children through the immediate aftermath of the death. For more information on volunteering contact Kecia Hill, our Volunteer Coordinator at (202) 204-5025 or khill@wendtcenter.org.

Camp Forget-Me-Not/ Camp Erin DC

Camp Forget-Me-Not/ Camp Erin DC is a free, weekend, sleep-away bereavement camp for metropolitan Washington DC area youth ages 6-16 who have experienced the death of a loved one. Heart attack, cancer, homicide, suicide, HIV, motor vehicle collision — whatever the cause of death — Camp Forget-Me-Not provides a safe, supportive environment for children to gently explore their feelings and to understand they are not alone in their grief. Camp Forget-Me-Not combines traditional camp activities with programs designed to help children remember, mourn and celebrate loved ones who have died. For more information contact Stephanie Handel, Camp Coordinator, (202) 204-5008 or shandel@wendtcenter.org.

Counseling Services

Grief counseling is often about finding new solutions to problems of living, or about changing relationships in the context of loss. Our trained, experienced therapists accompany adults and families as they readjust to a world that has drastically changed. For more information contact Danielle LaSalandra, Intake Coordinator at (202) 204-5021 or dlasalandra@wendtcenter.org.

Training and Education

Wendt Center experts provide on-site training on numerous subjects relating to adult and child grief and trauma. From skill building techniques in play therapy to in-depth presentations on traumatic bereavement, our trainers share knowledge gained from current direct practice and extensive training and research opportunities. As active members of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, we strive to provide stimulating, interactive presentations that fuse clinical experience with state of the art theory and research. For more information contact Danielle LaSalandra, Intake Coordinator at (202) 204-5021 or dlasalandra@wendtcenter.org.

DC Homicide Coalition

The DC Homicide Coalition was started in 2006 in collaboration with community, advocacy and government groups interested in addressing the many needs facing those dealing with the aftermath of a homicide death of a loved one. Through monthly meetings, this group has explored ways of improving services, advocating to reduce the costs of burials and funeral for families, developing information and materials useful to families and professionals alike, and researching other models around the country in an effort to expand and enhance local services.

On Thursday, September 18, 2008, the DC Homicide Coalition sponsored it's first Annual DC City Wide Homicide Commemorative Event at Matthews Memorial Baptist Church. This event was held to remember victims and to honor those who were grieving a loved one through the violence of homicide. Over three hundred people attended. The special guest MC was JC Hayward of Channel 9 WUSA. Also in attendance was the Honorable Eleanor Holmes-Norton and Assistant Chief Winston Robinson who spoke briefly about the homicides in the city. In honor of the occasion, the Mayor issued and sent a proclamation declaring September 18th "Homicide Victims Remembrance Day." The DC Homicide Coalition is grateful to all who participated, volunteered and helped to make this event a success. Click here to see pictures.