Published: Friday, October 9, 2009
Group provides help for families of crime victims
A Families and Friends of Violent Crime Victims event raises money to support the loved ones of crime victims.
TULALIP — Melanie Alvord lived for 20 years not knowing what happened to her husband and feeling like the authorities didn’t care.
Then in 2004, she received a call. The man who killed her young husband had confessed to police. He was going to tell detectives where he left Randy Soderberg’s body in 1984.
The life Alvord had built since her husband’s disappearance was turned upside down.
There were meetings with prosecutors and court proceedings. Detectives began to search for her husband’s remains. Reporters with television cameras showed up on her doorstep.
“This is more than I can handle,” Alvord remembers thinking.
That’s when she called Families and Friends of Violent Crime Victims, an Everett-based advocacy organization.
She found the help she needed. People who never knew her husband sat next to her in court. They listened. They fought for her.
Alvord shared her story Thursday at the organization’s annual fundraiser breakfast. This year’s event honored and remembered the victims of unsolved homicides and disappearances.
Some of the families of those victims attended the breakfast at the Tulalip Resort Casino.
Snohomish County sheriff’s Capt. Dave Bales told the room that the sheriff’s office recently received nearly $400,000 to bolster its cold case squad. The grant will pay for two more detectives and advanced evidence testing. The team was the first in Washington to create a deck of cold case playing cards.
The cards have since been handed out in jails and prisons in hopes of soliciting tips for unsolved crimes dating back to the 1970s.
Alvord encouraged the victims’ families never to give up hope at finding answers and seeing justice for their loved ones.
“We want to remind you that you are not alone today. We are here for you for the long haul,” said the agency’s executive director Jenny Wieland-Ward.
Families and Friends serves 17 counties across the state, providing victim services, including support groups and a 24-hour crisis line.
Last year the organization helped more than 300 new clients, in addition to working with hundreds of other people, some of whom have been seeking help for decades.
“The goal is to be victim centered. Everything we do is for crime victims and their families,” Wieland-Ward said.
The organization relies heavily on donations and has been hit hard by the economic downturn, like many nonprofit agencies. The 350 people who attended Thursday’s event donated about $32,000.
“We are so thrilled with the turnout. It was the largest turnout we’ve had,” Wieland-Ward said. “We are just so appreciative of those who have shown such generosity.”
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
To learn more
For more information about Families and Friends of Violent Crime Victims or to donate, go to www.fnfvcv.org. The organization’s 24-hour crisis line is 800-346-7555.
Then in 2004, she received a call. The man who killed her young husband had confessed to police. He was going to tell detectives where he left Randy Soderberg’s body in 1984.
The life Alvord had built since her husband’s disappearance was turned upside down.
There were meetings with prosecutors and court proceedings. Detectives began to search for her husband’s remains. Reporters with television cameras showed up on her doorstep.
“This is more than I can handle,” Alvord remembers thinking.
That’s when she called Families and Friends of Violent Crime Victims, an Everett-based advocacy organization.
She found the help she needed. People who never knew her husband sat next to her in court. They listened. They fought for her.
Alvord shared her story Thursday at the organization’s annual fundraiser breakfast. This year’s event honored and remembered the victims of unsolved homicides and disappearances.
Some of the families of those victims attended the breakfast at the Tulalip Resort Casino.
Snohomish County sheriff’s Capt. Dave Bales told the room that the sheriff’s office recently received nearly $400,000 to bolster its cold case squad. The grant will pay for two more detectives and advanced evidence testing. The team was the first in Washington to create a deck of cold case playing cards.
The cards have since been handed out in jails and prisons in hopes of soliciting tips for unsolved crimes dating back to the 1970s.
Alvord encouraged the victims’ families never to give up hope at finding answers and seeing justice for their loved ones.
“We want to remind you that you are not alone today. We are here for you for the long haul,” said the agency’s executive director Jenny Wieland-Ward.
Families and Friends serves 17 counties across the state, providing victim services, including support groups and a 24-hour crisis line.
Last year the organization helped more than 300 new clients, in addition to working with hundreds of other people, some of whom have been seeking help for decades.
“The goal is to be victim centered. Everything we do is for crime victims and their families,” Wieland-Ward said.
The organization relies heavily on donations and has been hit hard by the economic downturn, like many nonprofit agencies. The 350 people who attended Thursday’s event donated about $32,000.
“We are so thrilled with the turnout. It was the largest turnout we’ve had,” Wieland-Ward said. “We are just so appreciative of those who have shown such generosity.”
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
To learn more
For more information about Families and Friends of Violent Crime Victims or to donate, go to www.fnfvcv.org. The organization’s 24-hour crisis line is 800-346-7555.
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