Crime Victims Advocacy Council, Inc. Contact: Kellie Wiggins: 770-301-0750 [email protected] www.cvaconline.org For Immediate Release March 16, 2011

CVAC Sponsors Memorial Service Honoring Victims of Crime April 10 – 16, 2011 is National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Atlanta, GA - Crime Victims Advocacy Council (CVAC) is sponsoring its 21st annual Memorial Service at 7:00 pm on April 10, 2011, at the First Baptist Church of Decatur, 308 Clairemont Avenue, Decatur, Georgia 30030. This service honors crime victims and their loved ones, those who serve crime victims and those who advocate for victims’ rights. In this, the 10th Anniversary of the September 11th attacks, we remember and honor the victims who were injured or slain in those vicious attacks on American soil. While the 9/11 loss is one we feel collectively as a nation, there are crime victims injured or slain every day right here in our state, our community, and our families. This Memorial Service kicks off National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. The 2011 national theme is Reshaping the Future, Honoring the Past. •

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Reshaping the Future evokes victims’ past struggles and our state’s duty to help them rebuild stronger lives. For victims, reshaping the future means confronting many challenges. After a crime, victims need to know what rights and resources they have. This is difficult for someone who has been victimized and is frightened, grieved and uninformed about the criminal justice process. For CVAC, reshaping the future means assisting new victims through crisis intervention, support groups, assistance in seeking victim’s compensation, education about the criminal justice system and appropriate referrals to other service providers in the state of Georgia. Honoring the past means we never forget. We never forget the many crime victims whose deaths have paved the way for changes in our laws. Honoring the past means acknowledging a past when crime victims were not treated respectfully: they were not kept informed, they were not compensated; they were pushed out of court rooms and prevented from speaking out about the impact of the heinous crimes committed against them and their loved ones. Honoring the past means we never forget the ones we loved and because we remember them, we honor them.

Highlights of this year’s Memorial Service will include: • • • •

The unveiling of this year’s memorial wall listing the names of Atlanta area homicide victims for 2010. Our keynote speaker will be Claudia Barnes; she will also present information about the 3/11/05 Scholarship in memory of the victims of the 2005 Fulton County Court House shooting. Patrick Wilhelm, brother of one of those victims - FBI Agent David Wilhelm - will sing, along with The Anointed Voices and Jennifer Grubbs. Families and friends of homicide victims for 2010 and previous years, victim advocates, community leaders and others affected by crime in our community are invited to attend and participate in this service.

For more information about CVAC and the memorial service please visit www.cvaconline.org, call 770-333-9254 or email [email protected]. Interviews are available from CVAC board members, please call Kellie Wiggins 770-301-0750 or email [email protected]