Through our Crime Victim Services and HOPES Program, we provide comfort and support for families, individuals, and communities coping with crime-related grief and trauma.
Our Crime Victim Services are provided by licensed clinicians, programs staff, and carefully trained volunteers with expertise in the areas of traumatic loss, crime victimization and violence. Through our programs we provide comfort, information and practical assistance to people of all ages mourning the death of a loved one whose life was taken by homicide or to those who are survivors of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual violence or other crimes. Our caring and compassionate staff understand the road towards healing and offer expert guidance and support.
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.
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.
Project Change
Project Change is an innovative new program launched this year as part of H.O.P.E.S., implemented in coordination with Metropolitan Police Department and Medstar Hospital. The Center dispatches highly experienced mental health counselors to provide crisis support on-site at the hospital and in the community in the aftermath of an attempted homicide. The program is designed to promote healing at the family and community level and facilitate violence de-escalation.
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 Intake Coordinator at (202) 204-5021 or info@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 pricing information or to schedule a training, please contact Melissa Sellevaag, Director of Training and Education, at 202-204-5033 or msellevaag@wendtcenter.org.
Comprehensive Homicide Elimination Strategies Task Force
Our Executive Director has been appointed by the D.C. Mayor to co-chair the city’s Comprehensive Homicide Elimination Strategies Task Force. The Task Force will make recommendations to the City Council and the Mayor on strategies to reduce/eliminate homicide in the District of Columbia.
