Advocacy and the Extra Mile

Sometimes victims need help. We all know this. The “system” can be overwhelming and confusing, and trying to get results and navigate their way to restorative justice can leave a victim feeling like they just got victimized again. And that’s where we come in. Our Crime Victim Advocates can step 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 was victimized and had no path forward. Annette, one our Advocates, got some key community members to come together and help this person evict a really terrible roommate, prepare and sell his house (that sold in a few days far above asking price), 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 who need us.

A few months ago, a person (we’ll call him “Ken”) came into a C.O.P.S. shop with a problem. Ken was an elderly man, very quiet and shy. He said he had a wallet he needed to turn into return to its rightful owner. On the 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 more to this story. Ken had a roommate who had been living with him for several years, a gal he knew whom Ken was trying to help out and let her get back on her feet. He let her move into a spare bedroom. She paid rent for awhile and then stopped. She began “taking over” more and of Ken’s house and claiming it as her own. She was becoming more and more controlling and domineering towards Ken. Ken told her perhaps it was time to move on, she refused. She said she wasn’t going anywhere, nor would she be paying rent, and he needed to deal with it. With all of the Covid protections for renters at the time, she knew she didn’t have to go anywhere and told him that. Over time, the bullying got progressively worse and worse. She got a boyfriend who began living there as well, and a few days prior to coming into the C.O.P.S. shop, the boyfriend had beat Ken, this sweet, kind, elderly man, and put Ken in the hospital. Ken came home several days 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 thing to do was to turn the wallet in.

The front desk volunteer was very concerned with all of this and asked if they could refer Ken to a Victim Advocate to help deal with this situation and figure out how to get this roommate out, even with all the Covid protections that were making evictions impossible. Annette Henriksen was the Advocate who made contact with Ken. She immediately gravitated towards Ken – he was 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, Ken decided he was old enough that the correct decision was to sell the house and move into a retirement community. But even that could potentially be tricky with Covid protections for renters. When Ken had mentioned he was considering selling, 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 they needed to avoid. After feeling comfortable with the path forward, Annette, Kali, and C.O.P.S. Executive Director Patrick Striker were able to come to Ken’s house as a group to help make it clear in no uncertain terms that the house WAS being sold and the roommate DID need to leave.

Now Ken wasn’t alone. Instead of this woman bullying him and taking advantage of him, Ken had the backing of these other people to begin moving things forward. As with any bully, she was picking on Ken because he was alone. Now that this wasn’t the case anymore, we turned the tides. She was given a date to be out of the house by. Once she realized the game was over and Ken had friends who were acting on his behalf now, she moved out. She knew she couldn’t bully her way through this anymore, and she left.

But our story doesn’t end there. Kali Butler, as with everyone who meets Ken, took an immediate liking to him. She sent in a crew to clean his house and then stage his house so he could get top dollar for it. She even sent in a contractor to help clean up the yard and back area where the previous year’s storm had left a mess of fallen trees and debris that an elderly man had no chance of dealing with. The house was made beautiful in short order and when it went on the market, it sold within a couple days, far above asking price. Ken was speechless.

And our story still keeps going. A problem we had run into was trying to find a place for Ken – so many of the retirement homes were full in 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 and wanted to bring in a renter, and Ken was looking for a place. It was a perfect fit. And that’s where Annette and Kali REALLY went the extra mile – 160 extra miles, actually. Kali’s mom lives south of Spokane by several hours, and to get Ken there safe and sound, Annette and Kali actually moved him down there and got him set up at Kali’s mom’s place.

It was only then that Annette and Kali were willing to close the file and call it Resolved. But that’s the way this should work – rather than an elderly man being taken advantage of, Spokane C.O.P.S. saw red flags when 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 help professionally, who then used her social capital to go the extra mile and get Ken to safe, happy place that was a win for everyone.

What does a perfect scenario for helping a victim look like in Spokane? Just like that. Just ask Ken.

If you can’t get enough of this story, here is the full interview with Annette Henriksen and Kali Butler.

Picture you are sitting in a cozy emerald couch, with the aroma of coffee in the air and happy chatter all around. Yes, I was at our cities very own Indaba coffee to do an interview with two amazing women from our community to hear how they helped a kind man finally find safety in his home.

 

Jo- Question: So, let’s set the stage, who are each of you and what do you do?

Annette: I‘m Annette Henriksen, and I’m a Crime Victim Advocate working with Spokane C.O.P.S. I primarily work out of the C.O.P.S. Northeast Shop located on North Market Street.

 

Jo- Question: What brought you to this position, what drew you in?

Annette: In the spring of 2021, I was working as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant at the VA Medical Center here in Spokane as a liaison between the veteran and their medical team. I had a heart for the veterans – these guys and gals needed someone that would listen to them, know they were really being heard, and then direct them where they needed to go to get their specific care.

I happened to stop by C.O.P.S. West to say hello to Traci Ponto, she brought me into her office and said, “Annette, sit down, I have a question for you.” She then asked, “Do you LOVE your job?” I thought, wow, no one has ever really asked me that. I told her I love the people I work with; I love helping the veterans and seeing the outcome of my efforts, but I honestly do not love my job.” Traci then told me about the open position of Victim Advocate, she thought I would be a good fit, and encouraged for me to apply. So that’s what brought me to this position and now, I DO love my job!

 

Jo- Question: So now we will swap over to Kali. Please introduce yourself and tell us what you do.

Kali: My name is Kali Butler; I work for Exit Real Estate Professionals as a Real Estate Agent and just celebrated my third year February. Before this, I worked as a Health Unit Coordinator in the Neonatal ICU and the Pediatric ICU for Sacred Heart for 17 years. I worked night shift (only) because I had little kids at that time and wanted to make sure I could take care of them during the day. We got a new program that absolved about 75% of my job function, so I went back to the drawing board on what I wanted to do. I saw a need in real-estate because of the changing market, so I sat down with one of my good friends who is a real estate agent and asked, what do you love, what do you hate, tell me about real estate. Four months later I finished, passed the Real Estate Exam, got my license, joined the Exit team, and hit the ground running. I absolutely LOVE my job! I love that it gives me the liberty to touch on the different parts of who I am at my core (generosity, teaching, liaison, advocacy, my client’s best interest at heart always... just that whole part of it). It is a perfect blend of everything that I love, and I get to choose what I do with my business and my money, and I more often than not, choose to spend some of it on my clients. Like, as a thank you, or we got to get some of these things done… I have two hands; I have an able body.

 

Jo- Question: Being a Crime Victims Advocate Annette, I’m sure you meet people from all walks of life. Tell me a little bit about the case that you were working on that brought us all together today?

Annette: In November of 2021, I received a referral from one of our Spokane C.O.P.S. Shops. This victim was an elderly gentleman (we’ll call him Ken) that was wanting to turn in a wallet that was in his yard. When talking with the C.O.P.S. Shop volunteer, Ken shared that the license belonged to a previous squatter in his house. This same squatter had assaulted Ken and even put him in the hospital. But through all that Ken still wanted to get the wallet back to them. Ken also shared there was still (another) squatter living in his house, who had been living there for 3 years and he was wanting this person to move out because he wanted to sell his house. When I received this referral and information about Ken, I called and made an appointment to meet with him the following day.

 

Jo- Question: So, how did he get there (to the appointment)?

Annette:  At our first of several meetings, Ken met me at the CVA office on Ash Street. When I showed up at that first meeting, I found him standing outside in the cold waiting for me. This is when I learned he’d taken the bus, which arrived about 20 minutes prior to our meeting time. Take in mind, this was late November and Spokane had its share of cold, snow, and ice. I told him I was sorry he had to wait in the cold, and he just smiled and said it’s no problem.

This was the first I saw that Ken was so, warm, and polite, and there’s just such a kindness and sweetness about him.  Later I would find out that Ken is a definitely a minimalist. He does not own transportation, and actually enjoys walking or taking the bus everywhere.

During the meeting, Ken shared that over the past several years, his home and backyard had been taken over by squatters. He’d finally gotten some help in removing most of them, but there was still one that refused to leave. He said they were never invited to live in his house, they did not pay rent, and they had a dog that was destroying the wood floors in the house. He said this had been going on for 2 ½ years and that he was afraid of this person. Ken shared with me that he was becoming more and more frail after recovering from surgery and was needing to sell his house but didn’t know what to do. Ken also thought if he could just sell his house this would be a good way to get rid of the squatter.

 

Jo- Question: What made you reach out to Kali?

Annette: I knew we needed to find someone that would work well with Ken, especially knowing his vulnerable state, not to mention the problem with the squatter. I know several real estate brokers here in Spokane, but Kali was the first person I thought of.

Jo- Question: But what was is it specifically about Kali? There are hundreds of relators in Spokane.

Annette: (Answering this with joy-filled and heart-warming tear) I met Kali several years ago, and from the moment I met her, she’s been nothing but genuine, kind, sweet and loving. She’s just real! Also, she is a very strong and amazing woman that I’ve come to admire over the years. So, I knew there were going to be some challenges with legalities and the squatter in the house, but I knew she would be the perfect person on all levels to help Ken.

 

Jo- Question: Kali, how did you feel about the situation going into it, knowing there was a squatter in the house? Have you ever dealt with a situation like this before? What where your first thoughts?

Kali: My first thought, honestly, was I am totally up for this… because I hadn’t been in a situation like this. I saw it as a learning experience. I knew Annette wouldn’t walk me into something that was unsafe. So, I felt totally honored. What better way to learn than to live it?

 

Jo- Question: Tell me about the first time you, Kali and Ken all met at his house to assess the situation?

Annette: Our first meeting, we knew the squatter what going to be there. So, we also had our Executive Director Patrick Striker who is a 6’8” big and burly lumberjack type of man there with us. With his presence I felt completely comfortable.

Kali: Not that we can’t hold our own!

Annette: True! But our community and clients need to know that we are safe, and we want to be safe.

Kali: From the real estate perspective I came at it just like any other real estate appointment. I had my folder with the market analysis, property value, feasibility wise as far as being able to sell the house. Information on where the market was, etc. I treated Ken like he was any other listing I had done. I didn’t speak to the elephant in the room (the squatter). I think that us being there on site was vital. It gave a presence to be known and that this was really happening.

Annette: From a Victim Advocate standpoint, I was protective of Ken. This squatter’s boyfriend was the individual who attacked and hospitalized Ken, which is how all this began.

Kali: So, while we were doing a walk through of the house, we were able to discuss how to deal with the squatter. In his situation with listing the property, the base case scenario, which is what happened, the squatter to leave on their own. “We are selling the house, this is happening…”

Annette: Ken actually ended up buying the squatter a ticket to Connecticut. He was ready to rent a U-Haul and move her stuff. Keep in mind, Ken had no furniture, the only piece of furniture he owns is a rocking chair.

 

 

Jo- Question: How long was it in between the first meeting with you 3 at Kens house and when the house sold?

Annette: The squatter left the house on December 18th, 2021

Kali: We weren’t able to get into the house until Dec 20th. From there we cleaned the house from top to bottom. Because Ken only had a rocking chair as far as furniture goes, so I had our staging team come in and stage the house. We put the house up on the market Dec 28th, 2021 and we sold the house Dec 31, 2021. We received 10 offers in a couple days, and all were at asking price.

 

Jo- Question: Now you two have mentioned that Ken did not have his own transportation, he was a fall risk, and this is all happening in the middle of an icy winter and COVID where Open Houses weren’t allowed. How were you able to show the house without him there and get it sold so quickly?

Kali: Ken was ok with just walking around while the house was being showed, which I was not ok with because we had negative temperature that week. So, I asked, “How would you feel if I just came and picked you up? We could get coffee, go to the store, run some errands?” If you know Ken, he doesn’t want to put anyone out or be a burden on anyone. I told him that “I can’t think of a better way to spend my day! You have the best stories and I’d like to hear about your life.”

So that’s what we did, I took him out to one of my favorite restaurants and had a gorgeous breakfast at “Chaps”, the next day I took him to Maple Street Bistro, and we enjoyed their food and had great conversation. Later that evening we had some more showings, so I invited Ken join my family for dinner at my house. We just embraced him and who he was.

Annette: At the same time the house was being shown, I was doing research and working with Ken on figuring out where he would like to move after his house sold. He wanted southern Oregon, something warmer, maybe in an assisted living or retirement home.

 

Jo- Question: How did his new living arrangement come about?

Kali: Annette and I were both ready to drive Ken wherever he wanted. Unfortunately, the pricing for assisted living or retirement homes were more than he was wanting to take on. Soooo…as we do in our jobs, we talk to our family about work. I was having a conversation with my mom about my currently client and trying to find a new place for him to move and my mom came up with the idea, “He can move here if he’d like!” My mom has a 5 bedroom, 3000 sq foot Victorian, south of Spokane.

I said- “Mom you don’t have to do that”. She let me know, “I’ve got all of this house? If this is something he would like to try, he's more than welcome to come.”

I called Annette first to discuss with her and see her thoughts. I was worried about if it was going to be a place he actually wanted to go.

 

Annette: Meanwhile I had been submitting application for places in southern Oregon that were furnished, because again, he only had a rocking chair, 8 bins of his belonging, 2 pieces of plywood, and rubber gym mats. I kept hitting roadblocks with places already rented out, so then we were placing Ken on wait lists for assisted living spaces to open up. So, we had to come up with a plan B.

Kali: Plan B was him living with my mom. Both Annette and I discussed it with Ken and that this could be a good “Plan B” until something else opens up. You could say we are still in that temporary phase.  But it ended up being a great situation.

 

Jo- Question: Now, you presented this Plan B option to him? Not wanting to force it on him. How did you know that it was genuine, that he was happy with this option?

Kali: I could tell by his excitement. I told him Annette and I would be there to pick him up on a Monday morning (this is a week before we closed). We get there Monday morning, and he had his entire house packed, and it’s ready to on his back porch. He was ready to go, coat on and all.

I told him, if we get down there and you decide that it’s not where you want to be, we will figure something out. Even if that means that we turn around and we come right back to Spokane.

And he said OK and that he would tell me if he wanted to come back to Spokane.

Annette: And on the drive down there was not a moment of dead air!

Kali: My mom said to Ken that he could pick any room that he wanted. Ken picked the smallest of the 5 rooms and moved is his bed set up that he had been sleeping on for 30 years. The 8 bins of his belonging, 2 pieces of plywood, and rubber gym mats stacked on top of each other was his bed. And that's what he wanted. He is a minimalist, and the hard surface was what was best for his back.  So, Ken chose the room that had a window that looks out to a huge tree which he knew he could sit and look at while sitting in his rocking chair.

 

Jo- Question: So, you ladies left and how’d it go?

Kali: I called my mom once we got back home and asked how are things going? She said, “I haven’t seen him since you guys left!? I told her, it had been a long day of travel and moving boxes, and he’s probably taking a nap.

3 hours later my mom calls me back and says, “Well you were right, he was sleeping. He came downstairs and said, “I am so sorry, I fell asleep”. My mom told him, “No no, it’s ok, you had a long day.”

Ken – immediately started to cry and said, “I haven’t really slept in almost 3 years. I’ve always had to sleep with an ear open or an eye open or barely sleeping because of all those people in my house. I never really felt safe. This is the first sleep I’ve had where I felt safe and I just thank you for letting me be here.”

My mom told me it was then that she realized then that this man had been traumatized and that she’s so glad that he’s there with her, safe and at peace.

Annette: This is why I called Kali.

 

With tears welled in my eyes, these two incredible women with came together and helped get this kind, quiet, gracious man to a place that he can rest his head and feel safe. The 'C' in COPS stands for 'Community' and these two ladies envelop that word and should be recognized for their amazing work.  

A huge thank you to Annette and Kali for their work and kind hearts!