Meet Patricia Wenskunas of Crime Survivors in Orange County

Patricia Wenskunas is the Founder/CEO of Crime Survivors Inc. and has gained national renown for her tireless advocacy on behalf of the victims of violent crime. Crime Survivors is dedicated to the proposition that with community support, respectful advocacy and hope and healing, one can survive a violent crime, and thrive in their personal lives. Ms. Wenskunas stresses the important distinction between being a victim and a survivor, and it is this mindset that forms the basis for the organization’s universally-praised work.

Ms. Wenskunas’ passion to assist those who have been victimized by criminal attacks and tragedy is driven by her own personal experiences at the hands of a vicious assailant in her own home on April 4, 2002 and the humiliation and injustice she experienced at the hands of the criminal justice system.

In both instances, Ms. Wenskunas fought back and prevailed. It was through these tremendously negative experiences that she found her courage and her voice, and has used them both to help others to be transposed from victims to survivors ever since.

Ms. Wenskunas was one of the early proponents of California’s Victim’s Bill of Rights known as “Marsy’s Law,” a state constitutional amendment that was passed into law by California’s voters in 2008. Intended to help re-balance the scales of justice so that survivors and the families of murder victims would have rights too, “Marsy’s Law” is now part of the California State Constitution, as well as certain sections of the state’s Penal Code.

Ms. Wenskunas’ civic involvement extends well beyond the organization she founded. She is the Founder and former CEO of Orange County Crime Stoppers, an Advisory Board member at CalVCP, a Board member at Crime Victims United, and a past Board Member for The Children’s Advocacy Center and California Crime Stoppers.

Professionally, Patricia’s has found success as the owner of Creative Coordinating, a catering and event planning company. Her creative artistry and event planning expertise has helped to make the firm one of Orange County’s leading catering and event planning companies. She now only does as a hobby or to help friends and a few prior clients.

Ms. Wenskunas remains passionately involved with victim’s rights issues and is an acknowledged spokesperson who is frequently sought out to deliver awareness on a host of issues through presentations for church groups, high schools, forums, women’s groups, victims organizations & law enforcement agencies.

Patricia has paved the way for victims of violent crime to truly survive and thrive. Today she forges ahead fighting and championing for victims when they don’t have the strength to do it on their own. She has truly become a voice for the voiceless.

The statement that guides Ms. Wenskunas’ life is simple: “With Faith, there is Hope.”

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The struggles are real and yet I try to not focus on the struggles and focus on the blessings. With every struggle is an opportunity to learn, grow, and gain a new perspective. Never give up, never give in, never quite. “You see, in the final analysis, it is all between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway.”

Please tell us about Crime Survivors.
Our Cause
Awareness. Prevention. Advocacy. Healing.

Awareness
As crime continues to increase in our communities and neighborhoods and victims’ resources become harder to come by, the need for awareness and understanding has never been greater. Crime Survivors is singularly focused on making sure that our leaders and influencers are not only aware of the needs of victims, but committed to promoting and supporting pro-crime survivor policies and practices throughout the criminal justice system.

Advocacy
Crime Survivors is the one advocacy group that not only understands the needs of crime victims but more importantly how to translate those needs into real action and results. Through the strength, experience and endless commitment of its entire team, Crime Survivors is breaking through all the red tape and political correctness and changing the way victims are treated in the criminal justice system.

Prevention
The best form of prevention is always education. Crime Survivors is one of the leading “victims focused” educators in Southern California. Whether it is training law enforcement, testifying in front of legislative committees, or sitting down with the family and support structure of a newly created crime victim, the organization is able to share an unmatched level of knowledge, care and experience. This unique approach creates both awareness and understanding among a broad set of groups and truly sets the stage for not only prevention but putting the needs of crime victims first.

Healing
Overcoming any obstacle in life involves courage, strength and persistence. Surviving a crime is not something that happens overnight. It is a lifetime journey that requires unwavering love, understanding and support. Crime Survivors, through its committed team, is that lifetime partner and advocate. By focusing on the positive empowerment of crime victims, this amazing organization transforms the weak into the powerful, the scared into the brave and turns victims into SURVIVORS. In order to overcome tragedy you need strength. And crime survivors provide every survivor with a clear path to hope, healing and inevitably strength.

Mission:
The mission of Crime Survivors is to provide hope and healing to victims and survivors of crime through advocacy and the support of resources, information, and empowerment from the critical time after a crime occurs through the challenges and successes of surviving and thriving.

Vision:
Crime Survivors vision is for victims of crime to recover from their experience mentally, physically, emotionally, and financially by receiving the respect, support, and protection of law enforcement, the judicial system, and the community.

Values:
We believe that no one should feel abandoned or alone and that every person is deserving of love, respect and dignity.
We believe that the best way to help others with hope and healing is to work in partnership with our community, law enforcement, elected leaders, and members of the media.
We believe that all of us together can lift each other out of darkness and into the light of a restored heart and life.
We believe that every broken heart, every hurt, every wound can be healed with love and a strong community of support.
We believe in hopeful healing.
We believe that with faith, there is always hope.

We Are Here To Help: Crime Survivors is committed to serving our community by being an advocate and resource for crime victims and their families. If you don’t know where to turn or are confused or frustrated with the public services that are available to you as you recover or seek justice, Crime Survivors can help. Our web site will provide information, resources and tools that will help you become a “Survivor”.

Victims Advocate: Crime Survivors work in your community to make victims’ rights a top priority. We facilitate communication and cooperation across various public service, government and non-profit organizations to ensure that Victims’ rights are understood and that the services victims are entitled to are received. If you think you are not receiving the assistance you should, please contact us.

Specialize: We do not specialize in anything and just do our best to help victims, survivors and their families.

Known for: Being a voice for the voiceless. Passionate and persistent and known to be a bit of a squeaky wheel of sorts.

Most proud: The team that we have that continues to sacrifice and are dedicated, committed and go above and beyond for victims/survivors, our cause, mission and organization.

Set us apart: I am not sure we are any different from anyone else but we do work outside the box to ensure whatever is needed is achieved and that partnerships for the cause are always a priority.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I try not to think about what if or why… therefore I would not change the past but try to learn from my mistakes, my sins, my flaws, my imperfections and my own insecurities. I also try to learn the same from other individuals that I am surrounded by so that I can become better and stronger personally and professionally! This allows me to give more of myself and to keep with my promise that I made on April 4, 2002. Please give me my next breath and I promise that with each and every breath I will sacrifice for community above self!