Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

WORLAND – Jeanne Core has devoted her life to public service and the well beings of others, and now she will continue on and help others re-build their lives after being a victim of crimes in a different way.

The Idaho-native graduated from Brigham Young University and worked as a paramedic for 10 years, and in law enforcement as a dispatcher before working in crisis prevention.

Now, Core, Worland's Crisis Prevention and Response Center director, will soon leave to attend Wyoming Law School at the University of Wyoming this fall. While she doesn't know if her focus will be prosecution or family law, Core said the decision to go to law school was a long one coming.

"I want to continue working with these people, and continue to help them," Core said. "I love serving victims of crime, and people in poverty and there's such a need for people that want to work in that population and I feel like I can do more with a law degree than I can now," Core said.

"I'm not getting out of advocacy. I'm just going to be doing it in a different way," she explained. "It's really difficult for them to testify against their abuser, and the person providing legal services who understands that could be very helpful."

Five years as director of Worland's Crisis Prevention and Response Center

Core said she's enjoyed her time as director of the Crisis Prevention and Response Center because it's allowed her to wear many hats and not get too bogged down by doing the same thing.

Part of her administrative duties include grant writing and managing staff and volunteers, Core said, and as a director she promotes the services crisis prevention has available and works on prevention in churches, school and within the community to promote a message of prevention for victims in crime.

"I still work with direct victim services too. We specifically serve victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse and elder abuse," she said.

"Part of my day is spent helping those victims whether that is helping them with legal resources or medical resources. Sometimes it is just providing advocacy and support for things like how to turn around their finances or fill out a job application," Core said.

"You kind of get a way to try to help people who experience crime. People who experience crime are sometimes traumatized and act in ways sometimes are really hard, but if you're used to it ... and give them support, most of time you can really help people," Core said.

Bob Vines, victim/witness coordinator, said "Their work and my work go hand in hand, and if we don't lean on each other our victims get the full range of services we can offer because we all offer different things."

"Jeanne (Core) has been an incredible partner for the county attorney's office, and what she's doing is absolutely amazing and it takes a lot of courage for her to make a drastic change," Vines said.

"She's doing what she's doing for the love of victims, and from working with her I know she'll be successful," he added.

The new Crisis Prevention and Response Center director

Karina Pacheco accepted the position as director of the Crisis Prevention and Response Center and will start on July 1.

"I've always wanted to help people. It's always been about helping people," Pacheco said.

"Jeanne (Core) has made this organization very successful, and I plan to continue on to that success if not making it better. There is always room to grow," Pacheco said.

"This is a very rewarding job and I liked feeling like I helped someone make a better life of what they had. I applied because I believed I could do this job," Pacheco said.

Pacheco said she believes she is the first Hispanic woman to have this job, and it helps not only because she is bilingual, but because she understands the Hispanic culture.

"I feel like now I can reach out to the Hispanic community and there will be no language ... barriers, and that will be a huge asset to this organization," Pacheco said.

Core said Pacheco is currently doing some cross-training for her July start date and will receive more in the fall by going to seminars.

"She'll get a lot of support from other programs and directors ... as well people who monitor us at the state-level ... I think she will do a great job," Core said.

Pacheco has been a member of AmeriCorps and worked with the Crisis Prevention and Response Center for two years.