co-creating
futures without violence
cultivating a restorative community
Healing Courage offers a community-based justice process focused on supporting victim-survivors and community members impacted by sexual harm, intimate violence, and other complex interpersonal harms.
This restorative pathway was developed in response to the reality that many victim-survivors do not report - particularly elder survivors and those impacted by racial and systemic inequities - and they often do not find healing, safety, or meaningful accountability through traditional systems alone.
Sexual and intimate violence remain among the most underreported and underprosecuted crimes, leaving many victim-survivors furthest from resources and justice.
accountability processes that center healing and the needs of those harmed
what it is
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Acknowledgement of harm
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Supportive healing
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Accountability
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Restoration of a sense of dignity, power, and choice
what it isn’t
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Mediation
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Reconciliation
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Litigation
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Adversarial Process
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Therapy
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Forgiveness
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Forgetting
who is it for?
Those impacted by sexual or intimate harm who want:
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An alternative beyond the legal system
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A process focused on healing and meaningful support
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Support that honors voice, choice & consent
What these pathways are - and what they are not - really depends on what a victim-survivor is hoping for from the process.
These pathways are options.
They may be meaningful and supportive for some survivors and not for others. They may not be appropriate for every person, every circumstance, or every form of harm - and that's okay.
Healing Courage does not tell survivors what decisions to make, what justice looks like, or how to heal. Restorative and transformative processes are no different.
There is no timeline, no statute of limitations, for these approaches.
You decide if and when to participate.
Have you experienced, caused, or been impacted
by sexual or intimate harm?
Maybe you identify with all of the above.
Interested? Start the convo by completing the inquiry form or learning more below.
READY TO get started?
Let's work together.
SUBMIT AN INQUIRY FORM.
WANT TO Learn More About Transformative and Restorative Justice?
got questions? Contact stephanie@healingcourage.org
Designed by our Jefferson county community
Designed through months of community conversations, survivor engagement, and collaboration with advocates, behavioral health providers, legal system stakeholders, restorative justice practitioners, and community members, insights gathered through these conversations helped shape program values, referral pathways, and restorative practices.
Survivor voices and lived experiences also helped shape the foundation of the program and will continue to guide its development. Those participating in this work explored both the possibilities and limitations of restorative approaches while centering survivor agency, choice, and well-being.
This collective effort represents an important step toward a more just and restorative Jefferson County, with the potential to expand restorative responses to harm across ages, sectors, and systems of care.
The first phase of this pilot program in Jefferson County is generously supported by Futures Without Violence STAGES Pathways Grant and will prioritize participants ages 50+.
A council
of community
The advisory council guides engagement, education and conversation, to inform the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of the community justice pathway, grounding the work in restorative practices and input gathered from the Jefferson County community.
Advisory Council Design Team
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Angel Afford, LMHC, SUDP, Clinical Director of Addiction Recovery Services, Discovery Behavioral Healthcare
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Tonia Burkett, Usawa Consulting
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Erika Dawn Coyer, Restorative Facilitator, Quilcene School District
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Lily Haight, Jefferson Associated Counsel Defense Investigator
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Mary Irwin, Executive Director, Peninsula Dispute Resolution Center
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Susan Larson, Founder, Beyond Bars SPC
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Brandon Mack, Jefferson County Superior Court Judge
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Jessica MacKinnon, PhD, Clinical/Forensic Psychologist, Chief Clinical Officer, Discovery Behavioral Healthcare
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Rebecca Marriott, Court Coordinator, Family Therapeutic Court
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Vinnie Schwartz, Community Advocate
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Liz Uchitelle, Legal Advocacy Program Coordinator, Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault
Advisory Panel & Partners
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Terry Copeland, Licensed Psychologist, Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider
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Anne Dean, Vice President of Social Impact, Olympic Peninsula YMCA
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Katie-Rose Fischer-Price, RN, BSN, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program Manager, Jefferson Healthcare
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Beulah Kingsolver, Executive Director, Dove House Advocacy Services
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Apple Martine, Director, Jefferson Public Health
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Andy Pernsteiner, Sheriff, Jefferson County
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Lilly Powers, JD, Public Defender, Jefferson Associated Counsel
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Marisa Withey Byrne, Community Advocate, Moonlit Path Advocacy
Healing Courage
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Stephanie Burns, MA Restorative Justice, Executive Director & Co-Founder, Healing Courage
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Grace Crowley, M. Ed., Research Director, Healing Courage, Employment Case Manager, TRAC Associates, Ph.D. Student, University of Washington
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Alexis Rose, Creative Director & Co-Founder, Healing Courage, Artist
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Michelle Seyler, Development & Policy Director, Healing Courage
Many thanks to Suzanne Duscha, Community Member and Restorative Justice Practitioner, for her commitment to this work and inspiration!
A NOTE ON LANGUAGE: We use the terms “sexual and intimate violence” and “intimate harm” because we favor language that is gender neutral and does not invoke carceral definitions of harm. Such terms can cause survivors to feel excluded. When we refer to sexual violence or intimate harm, we are including incest, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, harassment, gender based violence, sexual harm, and all forms of violence that happen in intimate spaces, relationships, or to intimate parts of the human body. For ease and brevity, these terms may be interchanged with one another, or we may use other well-known terms to refer to the harm, but we are talking about all of these forms of violence and oppression.