Patricia Wenskunas
Bio
Awareness Prevention Survival:
Patricia is a survivor of attempted murder and childhood abuse, Founder and CEO of the nonprofit organization, Crime Survivors, Inc., a professional public speaker, victim advocate and motivational consultant, and future author of the journey through victimization and survival.
Public Speaking:
Patricia has spent the last several years empowering victims of crime to survive and thrive while bringing awareness and prevention to our communities. She has been speaking to corporations, community groups, service organizations, schools, colleges, universities, and to law enforcement agencies, academy classes, patrol schools and to non profits and agencies providing assistance to victims of crime.
Outreach:
Partnering with community leaders, law enforcement agencies, victim advocates district attorneys, nonprofit organizations and government agencies.
Advocate:
Founded the nonprofit organization Crime Survivors, Inc. www.crimesurvivors.org.
The mission of Crime Survivors is to ensure the public knows victims’ rights and needs and to provide resources, support, and information to empower crime victims to survive and thrive. 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 from law enforcement, the judicial system, and the community."All victims of crime have the right and responsibility to survive”.
Public Speaking:
- Advocacy
- Conferences
- Corporate Venues
- Universities
- Hospitals
- Law Enforcement
- Shelters
- Media
- More
Bio:
She was victimized at an early age, and again as a young woman, but both times instinctively survived. Now she helps others learn how to overcome their plight as a victim of violent crime and learn how to survive and thrive!
Patricia Wenskunas grew up in a small Midwestern town. At an early age, she was on her own, working as a certified nurse’s aide in a senior citizens home, a food vendor, a handler of gourmet desserts in a fancy restaurant, and a training instructor for a home for the mentally challenged. In her 20s, she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and took on the role of being mother and father. She knew this was a special gift in her life, the bond and love of a mother and her child. In her mid 20s she ventured to California, hoping for a better life for her son. Eventually, after working as a caterer, she started her own successful catering event planning business, Creative Coordinating®.
Plagued by a poor self image, a bruise left over from her childhood, Patricia suffered from eating disorders and sought to combat this last remnant of her past. She joined a physical fitness program and was introduced to a man 24-Hour Fitness said was a nurse. He would be her personal trainer. The trainer called Patricia his “wallflower,” seeing her as the naïve young woman she was, who was vulnerable and seemingly defenseless. Patricia had learned to trust him; in her eyes, he had become her counselor who helped her to mold her self image into that of a healthy young woman. However, unknown to her, the trainer was manipulating her and plotting to take advantage of her trust. Nine months into the training program, he invited himself to her home under the ruse of checking out her exercise equipment. At her home, he drugged her, beat her black and blue, and bound and suffocated her with saran wrap. When she came to, he was on top of her threatening to kill her son if she screamed. But he hadn’t counted on the courage of a mother’s love; and Patricia fought him off leaping from a 12-foot indoor balcony to the kitchen below, and ran to find help. At that moment, a true survivor was born!
During the court proceedings, Patricia was subjected to yet more abuse from the very legal system that is supposed to protect the innocent. It was during this process that she discovered that a victim has no written rights under the state constitution, while a criminal’s rights are heavily protected by this very same constitution. She discovered that her trainer was not a nurse as he and the fitness center portrayed him. The judge scorned her, seemed to be more attentive to the defendant, and even gave out Patricia’s new address in court after she had moved to protect herself and her son from her assailant. Her attacker had been charged with deliberate pre-meditated attempted murder, burglary in the first degree, assault with a deadly weapon, and criminal threat. Yet due to the judge’s behavior and the fact several charges were dismissed, the jury found the trainer guilty only of assault with a deadly weapon and making criminal threats. He was sentenced to a mere 120 days in jail instead of the ten years available for all of the charges initially filed. Her savings were all but depleted but she refused to be a victim. Patricia brought the judge’s misconduct to the attention of the court system, and as a result of her complaint and those of others, the judge was removed from the bench.
Frustrated at the injustices, Patricia again at her own expense gathered resource materials and began distributing these to law enforcement agencies for disbursement to other victims of violent crime--enabling them to become survivors. She also worked on a Victim’s Bill of Rights to end the unbalance of the justice system. As part of her ongoing efforts Patricia founded what has become a fast growing support system named Crime Survivors Incorporated™, with Patricia serving as the organizations CEO.
Patricia has dreamed of an ongoing Survival Resource Center for victims of crime which would be available to assist every need, and bring awareness, prevention and survival to the surrounding communities. Since her assault on April 4, 2002, Patricia has raised more than $300,000 to continue to empower victims to survive and thrive, and she is well on her way to the realization of that Survival Resource Center. She has partnered with other outreach organizations and made many friends of other founders, public safety leaders, political and civil servants, and community supporters. This is a true testimony of her ongoing fight against violent abuse. Patricia has paved the path for Victims of Violent Crime to truly survive and thrive.
Owner of Creative Coordinating®
CEO and Founder of Crime Survivors, Inc.™
Advisory Member of Crime Victims United California
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