Kim Book is a survivor and the founder and executive director of Victims’ Voices Heard Inc. – a non-profit organization that gives victims of violent crime the opportunity to meet with their incarcerated offender.

In 1995 her only child, 17-year-old Nicole, was stabbed to death in her father’s home in Delaware by a 16-year-old man she knew. This event shaped Kim’s life and is the driving force behind her need to assist other victims/survivors of crime in their need to meet with their offender and hear them take responsibility for their crime and express remorse.

Two years after Nicole’s death, Kim began volunteering in the correctional system, participating in prison programs – including the victim sensitivity program. These programs allowed her to have contact with offenders of severe violence and gain a better understanding of why people commit crimes. It also has deepened her respect for the correctional system.

In 1998, Kim began mediating minor offenses. In 2000 she began studying restorative justice and severe violence dialogue programs in the United States. In 2002, with the help of the non-profit agency People’s Place and a VOCA (Victims of Crime Act) grant, Kim was able to implement Victims’ Voices Heard/Severe Violence Dialogue Program in Delaware.  The program was then funded by the state through the AOC (Administrative Office of the Courts) until 2010 when Victims’ Voices Heard became its own non-profit agency.

Kim is a trained mediator and facilitator in cases of severe violence dialogue. She received her training at the University of Minnesota, under Mark Umbreit, Executive Director at the Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking. She has had extensive training dealing with sexual assault, sexual predators and is a trained sexual assault volunteer. Kim also attended STAR (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience) at Eastern Mennonite University.

Kim has been trained in Circles Processes. Circles are used to solve programs, support one another and connect to one another. The Circle Process is used in a variety of contexts. In neighborhoods, they provide support for those harmed by crime. In schools, they create a positive classroom climate and resolve behavior problems. In the workplace they help address conflict.