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When Katy Hutchison speaks to a packed room of high school students the silence is stifling. Their tears and unwavering attention are a testament to the power of her message: We need to be responsible for our actions and practise forgiveness.
Katy has been an advocate for restorative justice and helping kids make positive life choices since her husband was beaten to death by a teenager nine years ago after he checked on an unsupervised party at a neighbour’s home. When an arrest was made five years later, the police showed the young man a videotape of Katy speaking about her loss and asking the accused why he killed her husband. He was so moved that he confessed to the murder. Only 16 hours later, Katy met with him face-to-face. “It was one of the most difficult and empowering things I have ever done,” she says. Since that day, Katy has encouraged him to make a difference in the lives of young people by sharing his story.
“A youth in a detention centre who was charged with serious violent crimes told me that until hearing me speak, he saw no purpose in life beyond getting out of jail, lapsing back into drug and alcohol abuse and engaging in an endless cycle of violence,” says Katy. “Having heard me speak, the individual would now like to get clean and learn to solve problems without hurting others. That tells me I am really making a difference.”
Katy has recently released a book, Walking After Midnight (Raincoast, 2006, $32.95), and plans to focus more on restorative justice in the years ahead. “I am passionate about helping to create a criminal justice system that includes restorative justice because I know firsthand that it creates a safe place where true healing may begin.”
Katy’s Me to We Award money will go to Leave Out ViolencE (Love), an organization that helps reduce violence in the lives of youth and in our communities.
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