Skip to content
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Mission & Vision
    • Board of Directors
    • Our Story
    • Careers
    • Financials
  • For Professionals
    • Training Catalog
    • Featured Training
    • Research & Publications
    • Trauma-informed Prosecutor Project (TiPP)
    • ChildFirst® Forensic Interview Training
    • Child Advocacy Studies (CAST)
    • Online Store
  • For Victims/Survivors
    • Get Help Now
    • Video Resources
    • Jacob Wetterling Resource Center
    • Statute of Limitations Reform
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Events & Training
    • Upcoming Events & Training
    • 2023 Summit
    • Past Events
  • News
    • Recent News
    • Press Releases
  • Contact
  • Donate
Menu
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Mission & Vision
    • Board of Directors
    • Our Story
    • Careers
    • Financials
  • For Professionals
    • Training Catalog
    • Featured Training
    • Research & Publications
    • Trauma-informed Prosecutor Project (TiPP)
    • ChildFirst® Forensic Interview Training
    • Child Advocacy Studies (CAST)
    • Online Store
  • For Victims/Survivors
    • Get Help Now
    • Video Resources
    • Jacob Wetterling Resource Center
    • Statute of Limitations Reform
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Events & Training
    • Upcoming Events & Training
    • 2023 Summit
    • Past Events
  • News
    • Recent News
    • Press Releases
  • Contact
  • Donate
Search
Close
DONATE
Jacob Wetterling Resource Center
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • History
    • Legislative Background
  • Training
    • Teachable Moments – Body Safety Basics
  • Empower Me!
  • Safety Tips
    • Personal Safety
      • Family Safety Night
      • After an Arrest
      • Phone Communication Guide
      • Holiday Safety Tips
      • Halloween Safety Tips
    • Online Safety
      • Social Media Policy
      • Social Media Tips
    • FAQ About Sex Offenders
      • Sexuality of Offenders
      • Sex Offender Risk Levels
    • Communities of Faith
    • Community Notification Meetings
  • #11forJacob
  • Running Home
  • Victim Assistance
  • How to Help
    • Current Volunteer Case Management Survey
Menu
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • History
    • Legislative Background
  • Training
    • Teachable Moments – Body Safety Basics
  • Empower Me!
  • Safety Tips
    • Personal Safety
      • Family Safety Night
      • After an Arrest
      • Phone Communication Guide
      • Holiday Safety Tips
      • Halloween Safety Tips
    • Online Safety
      • Social Media Policy
      • Social Media Tips
    • FAQ About Sex Offenders
      • Sexuality of Offenders
      • Sex Offender Risk Levels
    • Communities of Faith
    • Community Notification Meetings
  • #11forJacob
  • Running Home
  • Victim Assistance
  • How to Help
    • Current Volunteer Case Management Survey

History

Home » Victim Assistance » Jacob Wetterling Resource Center » Who We Are » History

JWRC History

How we began and the need for transition. . .

On Oct. 22, 1989, 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted from a group of three boys. In 2016, we finally were given answers about Jacob and were able to lay him to rest. The hope for Jacob that grew over those 27 years became a hope for all missing children and an energy to build a world worthy of its children. Jacob’s Hope continues to inspire us every day as we work to make things better for children and youth in Jacob’s name.

When Jacob was taken in 1989, friends and community members joined with Jacob’s parents, to begin the journey of what is now JWRC. These friends decided to turn their anger, sadness and fear into a groundswell of action to protect other children. In 1990, “Friends for Jacob”, later named “Jacob Wetterling Foundation”, and now named “Jacob Wetterling Resource Center” was formed by Jerry and Patty Wetterling along with many committed members in the community. Their mission was to educate the public about who takes children, how they do it and what each of us can do to stop it. They turned their pain into action to help others.

Today, people often tell us, “I know where I was when Jacob was taken.” That defining moment in time continues to impact people throughout Minnesota, Jacob’s home state and in nearly every corner of the world.

Since 1989, many things have changed within our families, community and the world at large. Our prevention work expanded into the positives and negatives of technology. Our first fundraiser was for a new invention called the fax machine. How quickly things change! Thankfully, the power of connected and caring adults remain an important prevention piece for every decade.

The public began to ask for laws that would help supervise and rehabilitate convicted sex offenders, so JWF responded by advocating to pass Jacob’s Law in Minnesota and throughout the United States. The public needed a missing child emergency response system, so JWF responded, helping to launch the A.M.B.E.R. Plan in Minnesota, used in the most severe cases of missing children.

Sometimes children or teens go missing at the hands of non-family members, sometimes at the hand of family members and sometimes they run away from abusive homes to land on the streets where they become prey for those who seek to exploit them. Sometimes they are “thrown away” or “trafficked” for profit or personal gain. We work to prevent crimes against children knowing that every child deserves to be safe.

With the need for more proactive prevention trainings and materials, Jacob Wetterling Foundation became Jacob Wetterling Resource Center in September 2008 with new online and in person resources to help build safer communities for our children and teens.

The Jacob Wetterling Resource Center merged with the Gundersen National Child Protection Training Center in February 2010. The move was an effort to combine the groups’ resources and strengthen their common efforts to ensure every child grows up in a healthy, safe world free from abuse, exploitation and abduction.

In September of 2016 we learned the very sad news that Jacob was found deceased. We did not want Jacob’s story to end this way. In that moment of pain and shock, we went back to the beginning. The Wetterlings had a choice to walk into bitterness and anger or to walk into a light of what could be, a light of hope. Their choice continues to change the world.

Today, we gather around the same flame continuing to work in prevention, education, and advocacy so that other children can grow up safe and free from any harm. We encourage people to live out Jacob’s traits and be involved in the #11forJacob campaign to create a better world. Our hearts are heavy, but we are being held up by all of the people who have been a part of making Jacob’s Hope a light that will never be extinguished. It shines on in a different way. We are, and we will continue to be, Jacob’s Hope.

Affiliations

  • Anoka County Child Abuse Prevention Council
  • Association of Missing & Exploited Children’s Organizations (AMECO)
  • Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
  • Minnesota Alliance on Crime
  • National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
  • National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC)
  • Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
  • Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
  • Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MNCASA)
  • Day One Minnesota
  • Youth Moving Forward
  • Minnesota School OUTreach Coalition
  • Minnesota Department of Health Sexual Violence Prevention Network
  • Minnesota Statewide Human Trafficking Task Force
  • MN Department of Health’s Healthy Environments in Schools and Media Action Teams

30th Anniversary – Photo Gallery

Jacob Wetterling with family and friends.
Jacob and Aaron.
Jerry Wetterling
Patty Wetterling
Patty together with victim families.
Patty and volunteers.
Sign for Jacob.
Sign for Jacob in a parade.
Bridge of Hope dedication.
Alison Feigh and classmate at an event for JWF.
Jacob's classmates film a 10 year PSA to raise awareness for Jacob's case.
Jacob's classmates film a 10 year PSA to raise awareness for Jacob's case.
Jerry and family members before running the Twin Cities Marathon 1990.
JWF billboard.
Patty Wetterling with President Bill Clinton.
Flag of hope presented to President Clinton.
Patty Wetterling with the Olympic Torch.
Alison Feigh signing a copy of her children's book.
JWRC Staff, 2008.
Annual fundraising gala 1997
Annual Gala, 1998.
Annual Gala, 1998.
Annual Gala, 1998.
Annual Gala, 1998.
Patty Wetterling and Governor Jesse Ventura.
Billboard for Jacob.
JWRC Trek Fundraiser
10th Abduction Anniversary balloon release, 1999.
10th Abduction Anniversary balloon release, 1999.
10th Abduction Anniversary balloon release, 1999.
10th Abduction Anniversary balloon release, 1999.
Red Grammar at JWF event.
Patty Wetterling and Alison Feigh, 2013.
Family Gathering Retreat,2014
Family Safety event at the Mall of America.
Alison Feigh press conference, 2016.
Memorial Service for Jacob Wetterling, 2016.
Sign honoring the 11 for Jacob movement.
11 for Jacob at the Vikings Game, 2016.
Sign honoring Jacob with lanterns.
The Ordway joins the 11 for Jacob Movement.
Bridge lit up blue in honor of Jacob.
Sign for Jacob.
The Guthrie Theater and the 11 for Jacob Movement.
Friends participate in the 11 for Jacob Movement.
11 for Jacob in Washington, DC.
Shokopee PD participates in the 11 for Jacob movement.
Children forming an 11 for the 11 for Jacob Movement.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children honors Patty's years as Chairperson.
Staff members Alison, Jane, and Stephanie with Patty Wetterling, 2017.
2018 Trek participants.
Alison Feigh and Abbey Lowenstein with Girl Scout Troop who donated to JWRC.
Staff Members Abbey, Sadie, and Alison at Just for Kids Foundation Annual Charity Golf Tournament, 2019.
Zero Abuse Project and it's programs staff Rita Farrell, Jane Straub, Alison Feigh, and Victor Vieth at a national conference., 2019.
Patty Wetterling with documentary filmmaker Chris Newberry.
Patty Wetterling starts the kid's run at the Running HOME for Jacob. run/walk event.
Children at the starting line for the race.
Wetterling Family at Running HOME for Jacob.
Wetterling Family at Running HOME for Jacob
Participants in Running HOME for Jacob.
Staff members Mitch, Abbey, and Suzanne at Running HOME for Jacob.
Holding hands across the finish line at Running HOME for Jacob.
Starting off strong at Running HOME for Jacob.
MN Vikings fan cross the finish line at Running HOME for Jacob.
Jerry and Patty wave at Running HOME for Jacob.
Staff photo at Running HOME for Jacob.
Signed MN Twins Jersey for Jacob hangs in the hallway of JWRC's new St. Paul Office, 2020.
Alison Feigh presenting safety and abuse prevention education to children and community members.

STAY CONNECTED

We need your help to protect children from abuse! Sign up to stay connected and learn about upcoming events and announcements!

Facebook Twitter Youtube Envelope Rss
Subscribe

ABOUT

Zero Abuse Project is a 501(c)(3) organization committed to the elimination of child sexual abuse. Our programs are designed to provide training and education to professionals and students, and to help transform institutions to effectively prevent, recognize, and respond to child sexual abuse.

NAVIGATION

  • About
  • News
  • Events
  • For Professionals
  • For Victims/Survivors
  • Contact

CONTACT US

Jacob Wetterling Resource Center
(800) 325-HOPE (4673)

Zero Abuse Project Headquarters
366 Jackson Street, Suite 300
St. Paul, MN 55101
(651) 714-4673

Virginia Office
1450 Duke St
Alexandria, VA 22314
(651) 714-4673
DONATE
© 2022 Zero Abuse Project. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. EIN: 82-4614993