30 years.

Much has changed at Jacob Wetterling Resource Center since our early days of sending out missing posters by mail shoulder to shoulder with volunteers in a basement in St. Joseph. Our work originated in a family and community’s belief that what happened to Jacob wasn’t fair and being moved to act. The community came together and began making the world a place worthy of all of its children. That early energy has never gone away and for that we are so thankful.

The work we do now at JWRC with our team at Zero Abuse Project is national and even global work in the response and prevention of child maltreatment. All of the work has been important. Our volunteers and supporters beginning in Central MN and extending globally have kept us going.

Much has changed in 30 years, but Jacob’s core belief that the world should be fair continues tobe a guiding force for our team.

• No one has the right to hurt children.
• Children have the right to feel safe in their homes and communities.
• Every person has a role to play in prevention.

This moment in time is a chance for us to say thank you. Thank you to the Wetterling family for facing an ongoing horrible nightmare and finding the energy to create a movement and place to support other searching families and prevent crime from happening to children. Thank you to the volunteers and supporters who have given of their time and resources to keep our doors open and our lights on. Thank you to all of the people who have reached out to coordinate educational opportunities for their students, staff, and parents as they live into the hope that prevention does work. Thank you to all of our client families who have trusted us with their stories as we walk alongside them as they move in their hope of finding answers.

We continue to do this work as a team, knowing there is power when we work together. Our team has expanded and grown as we now work under the umbrella of Zero Abuse Project. We all share the same core belief that prevention is possible and that children deserve to be safe. We are thankful for our colleagues in the field doing what they can with what they have to make the world better for kids.

Much has changed in 30 years, but our hope and thankfulness remain at the core of our team at JWRC. We come to work under the picture of a child who believed the world should be fair. Jacob deserved to be safe and what happened to him was absolutely unfair. We do this work knowing all children deserve to be safe. We do this work to make the world more fair for children. We continue to be thankful for everyone who joins us in this belief.

Alison Feigh

Director, JWRC