Oct 18, 2007 10:46 pm US/Mountain
Oprah Guest Pays It 4ward Again to Crime Victim
Written for the Web by CBS4 producer Libby Smith
by Suzanne McCarroll
The idea behind CBS4's Pay it Forward Colorado project is to give $1,000 to a Coloradan (or group of Coloradans) who will use the money to change someone else's life. Below lies CBS4's Oct. 18 report.DENVER (CBS4) - Nearly a year ago, Heather Callahan was sitting in the audience when Oprah announced she was giving everyone in the audience $1,000 and a video camera to Pay It Forward.
She knew exactly what she would do with the money. She turned to the Denver Center for Crime Victims, the same organization that helped her 15 years ago when she was the victim of a violent crime. She wanted to give the money to another crime victim to help them rebuild their lives.
"It's close to 15 years ago that I was given a gift, a very similar gift. Somebody gave me $1,000. What I did with that $1,000 is buy a dog, who ended up being my companion and my protector and really helped me, I think, heal and be able to face the world and move on with my life," Callahan told CBS4.
Callahan had been repeatedly stabbed and beaten by a stranger on a residential street near Washington Park. She struggled to survive.
"Fifteen years ago, when I was laying in street after being assaulted thought I was going to die but I kept praying and saying, 'This is not how it's supposed to happen. This is not how I'm supposed to leave this world,'" Callahan said.
In her time of need, the Denver Center for Crime Victims was there to help Callahan with counseling and advocacy. The organization serves about 7,000 crime victims a year through information and referral, as well as actually providing counseling and case management.
"We are unique. There is not another center like ours in the country that offers the depth and breadth of services that we offer," Denver Center for Crime Victims Executive Director Cathy Phelps said.
Now, nearly a year after the Oprah show, Heather Callahan has come back to the Denver Center for Crime Victims. She wants to make another donation of $1,000 of her own money matched by $1,000 of our Pay It Forward money.
"It would be a good idea to just continue this fund -- be an annual fund, an annual gift to a victim of a violent crime. I feel really good about it," Callahan said.
At the center she met Debra Sierra, the victim of another random act of violence. Sierra was brutally attacked by a stranger in 2006. Her jaw was broken, her brain damaged, and her internal organs injured. The recovery has been slow and painful.
"I'm having a really rough time, to be honest, with just trying to be strong and be whole," Sierra told Callahan.
Callahan hopes a random act of kindness in the form of $2,000 will help Sierra deal with the aftermath of the violence she's faced.
Additional Resources• To find out more about the Denver Center for Crime Victims, or make a donation, log on to
www.denvervictims.org.
(© MMVII CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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