Sometimes victims need help. We all know this. The “system”can be overwhelming and confusing, and trying to get results and navigate theirway to restorative justice can leave a victim feeling like they just gotvictimized again. And that’s where we come in. Our Crime Victim Advocates canstep in and take a person by the hand and help them navigate those waters.Recently, we had a pretty incredible example of an elderly person who wasvictimized and had no path forward. Annette, one our Advocates, got some keycommunity members to come together and help this person evict a really terribleroommate, prepare and sell his house (that sold in a few days far above askingprice), find him a new place that was perfect for him, AND even help him move.It’s a pretty incredible story of what we can help facilitate for people whoneed us.
A few months ago, a person (we’ll call him “Ken”) came intoa C.O.P.S. shop with a problem. Ken was an elderly man, very quiet and shy. Hesaid he had a wallet he needed to turn into return to its rightful owner. Onthe surface, this was great and very common for someone to come into a C.O.P.S.shop for that reason. But as he talked, it turned out there was a little moreto this story. Ken had a roommate who had been living with him for severalyears, a gal he knew whom Ken was trying to help out and let her get back onher feet. He let her move into a spare bedroom. She paid rent for awhile andthen stopped. She began “taking over” more and of Ken’s house and claiming itas her own. She was becoming more and more controlling and domineering towardsKen. Ken told her perhaps it was time to move on, she refused. She said shewasn’t going anywhere, nor would she be paying rent, and he needed to deal withit. With all of the Covid protections for renters at the time, she knew shedidn’t have to go anywhere and told him that. Over time, the bullying got progressivelyworse and worse. She got a boyfriend who began living there as well, and a fewdays prior to coming into the C.O.P.S. shop, the boyfriend had beat Ken, thissweet, kind, elderly man, and put Ken in the hospital. Ken came home severaldays later and boyfriend was gone, but he had left his wallet on the floor.Ken, being a kind man, felt that even in spite of this assault, the right thingto do was to turn the wallet in.
The front desk volunteer was very concerned with all of thisand asked if they could refer Ken to a Victim Advocate to help deal with thissituation and figure out how to get this roommate out, even with all the Covidprotections that were making evictions impossible. Annette Henriksen was theAdvocate who made contact with Ken. She immediately gravitated towards Ken – hewas so sweet and kind, and was clearly an elderly man being taken advantage of.After a few meetings and trying to devise a plan to get the roommate out, Kendecided he was old enough that the correct decision was to sell the house andmove into a retirement community. But even that could potentially be trickywith Covid protections for renters. When Ken had mentioned he was consideringselling, the roommate told him that was not going to happen and she wouldn’t“let” him. Annette reached out to a friend and trusted realtor, Kali Butler.Kali used her realty firm, Exit Realty, to research and see what pitfalls theyneeded to avoid. After feeling comfortable with the path forward, Annette,Kali, and C.O.P.S. Executive Director Patrick Striker were able to come toKen’s house as a group to help make it clear in no uncertain terms that thehouse WAS being sold and the roommate DID need to leave.
Now Ken wasn’t alone. Instead of this woman bullying him andtaking advantage of him, Ken had the backing of these other people to beginmoving things forward. As with any bully, she was picking on Ken because he wasalone. Now that this wasn’t the case anymore, we turned the tides. She wasgiven a date to be out of the house by. Once she realized the game was over andKen had friends who were acting on his behalf now, she moved out. She knew shecouldn’t bully her way through this anymore, and she left.
But our story doesn’t end there. Kali Butler, as witheveryone who meets Ken, took an immediate liking to him. She sent in a crew toclean his house and then stage his house so he could get top dollar for it. Sheeven sent in a contractor to help clean up the yard and back area where theprevious year’s storm had left a mess of fallen trees and debris that anelderly man had no chance of dealing with. The house was made beautiful inshort order and when it went on the market, it sold within a couple days, far above askingprice. Ken was speechless.
And our story still keeps going. A problem we had run intowas trying to find a place for Ken – so many of the retirement homes were fullin our area and Ken wanted to make his way south towards northern California.Kali made a great connection then – her mom had a large, beautiful house andwanted to bring in a renter, and Ken was looking for a place. It was a perfectfit. And that’s where Annette and Kali REALLY went the extra mile – 160 extramiles, actually. Kali’s mom lives south of Spokane by several hours, and to getKen there safe and sound, Annette and Kali actually moved him down there andgot him set up at Kali’s mom’s place.
It was only then that Annette and Kali were willing to closethe file and call it Resolved. But that’s the way this should work – ratherthan an elderly man being taken advantage of, Spokane C.O.P.S. saw red flagswhen he was at the shop, referred it to Crime Victim Advocate who jumped in,tapped into her social capital to bring in another expert who could helpprofessionally, who then used her social capital to go the extra mile and getKen to safe, happy place that was a win for everyone.
What does a perfect scenario for helping a victim look likein Spokane? Just like that. Just ask Ken.
If you can’t get enough of this story, here is the fullinterview with Annette Henriksen and Kali Butler.
