The father of Katrina Hill talked for the first time about the murder trial of Kyle Marin.
Last month Marin was convicted of the 2006 Cedar Rapids killings of Hill and Molly Edmondson.
Raymond Hill said since the murder of his daughter he's cried on many shoulders. Now, he's trying to help some major supporters.
The last time Raymond was on TV, he was in a courtroom, watching the murder trial of his daughter's killer. Before that, we saw him on the stand, tewstifying about finding the girls' bodies in the apartment.
"It's pretty hard not to breakdown up there, but I had to do it for Kat," said Raymond.
If not for the Horizons Survivor's Program, Raymond would have been lost.
"You go to trials and you don't know what to expect," said Raymond.
Since the day Katrina was murdered, Emily and B.J. with the Survivors Program helped the Hill family. A lot of that time was spent preparing them for the emotional trial.
"I don't know what I would have done without them," said Raymond. "I probably would be very medicated, maybe in the goofy ward once or twice."
Through providing counselors and financial help for lunches, parking and transportation, Raymond credits the program with helping him.
Now, he's asking others to help this program that relies mostly on federal grants.
In the last 6 years, the number of people the survivors program has helped either get to court or deal with a tragedy has increased 7 times, yet their funding has decreased.
"Our program runs on right about $100,000 a year, so if you look at that with about 350 clients a year, 2 full time staff, it's tight," said Emily Blomme, Director of the Survivors Program.
The program helps anyone in 22 different Iowa counties that has dealt with a homicide, even if the crime didn't happen in Iowa. Usually the county attorney's office refers the family to the organization right after the crime.
Blomme says about 70% of their funding comes from Victims Of Crime Act funds. The rest of their funding comes from other grants and sources.
Blomme says each year their costs exceed their funding by about $30,000. But, Blomme says Horizons acts as their parent organization and provides the rest of the funding. Blomme says if the survivors program had enough money, Horizons could put that money to another use.
Raymond says that shortage of funds needs to change.
"A lot of people don't know what they are, I didn't know about them until it happened. It's a good cause," said Raymond.
And the need isn't going away. Blomme says their average client uses their free services for 7 years.
If you would like to donate, you can write a check to Horizons, and address it to "The Survivors Program."
www.horizonsfamily.orgOr, you can e-mail Blomme:
eblomme@horizonsfamily.org
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