THE 1st ROOM2HOPE VICTIM INTERVIEW ROOM
The HAYS COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE invited ROOM2HOPE to transform its first VICTIM INTERVIEW ROOM
These are the rooms where Law Enforcement interview Victims shortly after a violent crime has been committed. This is where vital facts are uncovered to inform the critically important Police Report.
Our Mission: “To aid THE PURSUIT OF JUSTICE by designing Kinder Interview and Waiting room for all Victims of violent crime.”
BEFORE THE TRANSFORMATION
A CLEAN IF NOT BLEAK SPACE BEFORE ROOM2HOPE CREATED A MUCH KINDER ROOM FOR VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CRIME!
9.5ft x 8ft. A TINY SPACE FOR REDESIGN MAGIC!
THE JOURNEY BEGINS …..
The Sheriff’s Office represented by Deputy Mark Andrews and an Alumni from the Sheriff’s Citizens Academy arrive to kickoff load-in day.
TRANSFORMATION MAGIC! THIS WAS TOO MUCH FUN.
Victim Assistance Coordinator Bea Moreno and Denise Fonseca take on the walls. Lieutenant Dennis Gutierrez opens the trailer with Detectives Cameron Mitchell and Chase Fuller ready to assist. Unloading begins. Detectives Cameron Mitchell and Nelson Wray effortlessly carry some seriously heavy chairs on their shoulders, while Deputy Mark Andrews and Detective Chase Fuller bring the table ‘home’.
Detectives Mitchell, Blanchard and Crow locate the MIA blankets for Bea to load into the new storage bench. Cameron Mitchell unwraps a chair, Robert Blanchard does some fridge heavy-lifting :) and Nelson Wray takes on furniture construction. And a new Room2Hope is born!
THE REVEAL!!
THE COMBINATION OF THE FOUNDER’S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, THE WISDOM OF THE DETECTIVES WHO USE THIS ROOM, AND TRAUMA-INFORMED DESIGN PRINCIPLES INFORMED EVERY ELEMENT OF THE REDESIGN PROCESS. THIS IS SO VERY MUCH MORE THAN AN DECORATING CHALLENGE.
- A beautifully restored heavy table for writing insightful reports and a place for weary Victims to rest their heads. The table is also the place for a soft container of stress toys and tissues. Room2Hope uses round tables to eliminate the dominant/subservient roles that rectangular/square tables suggest. Victims and Police are not on opposing sides. They are in the pursuit of Justice together.
- While the comfort of the chairs matters, more important is sturdy design to endure and to accommodate people of all shapes and sizes
- A washable indoor/outdoor rug to brighten floors and to cope with bodily fluids. Distraught people throw up, if not worse.
- Trauma-Informed Design principles inform use of soothing paint colors, wall decals and art to soften monotone walls.
- A padded storage bench for additional seating and filled with blankets to comfort traumatized Victims during the interview process and on the ride home or to hospital/other social service locations.
- A mini-fridge stocked with water for parched throats
- Victims are usually emotionally overwrought and can behave erratically, especially shortly after surviving a violent crime. Therefore items that can be used to self-harm, or to injure interviewing Officers, are never in our design plans. No knick-knacks, no mirrors, no glass framed art, no potted plants, and no clocks. No Victim wants to be reminded of how much time is ticking by.