The Tale of Two Rooms
Room2Hope is a non-profit initiative conceived in 2018 to aid the pursuit of Justice by designing kinder spaces for Victims of violent crime. More specifically, Room2Hope transforms bleak Victim Interview Rooms in Police Stations, and Victim Waiting Rooms in Courthouses, into more comforting, hope-filled spaces.
Denise Fonseca is the Founder of Room2Hope. She is a Hays County, Texas, resident who was a victim of violent crime. During her 19 month journey through the Criminal Justice System Denise spent too much time in dismal Victim Interview and Waiting Rooms. When her defendant, Todd Thomas Kress, was convicted of 3 Felonies and incarcerated, Denise embraced the opportunity of creating kinder, more nurturing spaces for Victims of violent crime.
How can Room2Hope credibly claim the lofty Mission of “Aiding the Pursuit of Justice”?
There are TWO critical junctures in the Criminal Justice journey where Room2Hope positively impacts Victims of violent crime.
ONE:
The Police interview happens at the beginning of the Justice Journey. When Victims enter the Interview room shortly after a violent crime has been committed they are, not surprisingly, in a state of shock and despair. Traditional dismal Interview Rooms do not provide the comfort needed to help distraught Victims give a coherent and complete account of what they have endured.
Equally these rooms do not provide ideal conditions for the Police to capture thorough and accurate reports. For her book ‘No Visible Bruises’ Rachel Snyder spent 6-years conducting nationwide Research with Prosecutors. A critical finding was that “the thoroughness of police reports is the single most important element they (Prosecutors) need to make their case” and get Justice for Victims.
Using Trauma-Informed Care Design principles to create kinder rooms, Room2Hope aims to improve the interview process for everyone. By helping the Victim to feel more at ease and enhancing the ability of the Police to capture every detail. Justice is the fundamental goal.
TWO:
The second critical point of intersection is when a Victim’s case moves to the District Attorney’s Office. If a case goes to trial the Victim will tell and retell and retell his/her story to a Prosecutor and eventually to a Judge and jury in a court of law. Although this is almost the final step in the Criminal Justice Journey, it is the most harrowing. As you sit and wait, sometimes for several days, you know that soon you will face the person who attacked, violated and humiliated you. Or murdered or maimed a person you loved.
Like the Victim Interview Room, Victim Waiting Rooms are cold, bleak places. Managing a Victim’s emotional state through the calm and comfort of the environment they ‘wait’ in, can help the Prosecutor secure a successful outcome. A Victim’s mental state has a profound effect on their ability to recall events with composure, and to deliver clear and consistent testimony. Victims especially need emotional fortitude to survive evisceration attempts by the Defense team. Room2Hope strives to ‘hold a Victim’s hand’ during this ordeal.
In Denise’s words ...
”Sadly many people are familiar with the stress of spending large chunks of time sitting in drab Doctor or Dentist waiting rooms, or, worse still, in a Hospital Emergency Room. But there are other rooms as deeply traumatizing as these examples. Child and Adult Victims of violent crime spend endless hours being questioned in Police Interview Rooms, and waiting in courthouse ‘Victim Waiting Rooms’ before they testify. This includes children as young as 4 years of age. The Police interviewing process is deeply traumatic but critical to the outcome of the case. And when a Victim is waiting to enter a courtroom to testify, they are at their most vulnerable, most fearful. My personal experiences demanded that I make a positive difference to these Rooms so that ALL involved can Hope for JUSTICE!”
Terrible things CAN happen to everyday people
Unfortunately, Counties across the Country are financially stretched so many ‘Victim Interview and Waiting Rooms’ are not ideal. This Child Victim Waiting Room shows how stark they can be.
Sadly, anyone can become an unwitting victim of a violent crime. It is not only a fate that befalls the marginalized or disadvantaged in our society. Pain does not care is you are young or old, wealthy or poor, live in a big city or country town. It strikes indiscriminately.
INTERVIEW WITH ROOM2HOPE’S FOUNDER:
WHY DO YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE RIGHT FOR THE TASK?
“If I was going to climb Mt. Everest I would rather be led by someone who has done the climb, than someone who has merely read about it. Having lived the Victim Interview and Waiting experience, I have ‘climbed Everest’. Memories of being cold-to-the-bone and insanely thirsty are still vivid today. During the Interview the trauma of what had happened to me manifest as incoherent anxiety and frustrating memory fog, compounded by the terror of not knowing what lay ahead.
YOU SAID YOU FOUND THE ‘VICTIM INTERVIEW ROOM’ TRANSFORMATION DIFFICULT. WHY WAS THAT?
”Well, firstly the space in TINY. And secondly, it’s misguided to think that a Victim Interview Room redesign is merely about making a stark room ‘pretty’. While aesthetics are key to improving a Victim’s state-of-mind, there are many critical and pragmatic considerations. Design ingenuity is required to accomplish everything on a shoe-string budget. The final Room design (see Gallery 2 )illustrates specific solutions to unique challenges.”
WHAT WAS YOU BIGGEST LEARNING?
”The delicate design balance between providing emotional comfort AND soliciting rock-solid testimony. Drawing from Trauma-Informed Design principles Room2Hope always remains aware of the utility of the end design. After 6-years of Research with Prosecutors across the country Rachel Snyder learned that “the thoroughness of police reports is the single most important element they (Prosecutors) need to make their case”. For Room2Hope the Justice Journey, for both Victims and Law Enforcement, is our primary focus.”
