Murray Police Department crime victims advocate Alissa Black knows the consequences her clients suffer after being raped, robbed and beaten by raging husbands.

She's seen the black eyes, bloody noses and broken bones. She's witnessed the terror and plummeting self-esteem. She's been frustrated at the lack of emergency financial assistance — for a hotel room needed to escape an abusive spouse or food for hungry kids — that made the aftermath of an already awful situation much worse.

But one day in 2005, after trying in vain to locate money to help a rape victim who'd been robbed of every cent in her bank account, the 31-year-old Alissa had an "aha" moment: The area needed an emergency fund for such things. And, she would have to organize it.

"I wanted to take care of that totally unexpected, emergency need," she says.

Alissa had organized a similar fund while working as a victims' advocate in San Diego two years earlier, so she knew the fundamentals of making it happen. After receiving permission from her boss, Murray Chief of Police Peter Fondaco, she started calling businesses and foundations across Salt Lake Valley, looking for money. What she got was dozens of rejection letters. "It was depressing that the foundations didn't want to give money to a new organization, but I don't blame them," she said. "We were so new, with no audited financial reports yet."

Then, Chief Fondaco talked to Utah mogul Larry Miller, who discussed the concept with executives at Zions Bank and the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, Alissa says. Between the three organizations, Alissa soon had $225,000 in seed money, and in 2006, the Salt Lake Valley Emergency Fund (SLVEF) was born.

In the last three years, she's written checks for such urgent expenditures as funerals, burial dresses and the home biohazard cleanups necessary when family members are killed or commit suicide.

"I'm in awe of what she's a complished in a few short years," said Lynda DeRushia, who nominated Alissa for the honor. Lynda was president of the Murray Chamber of Commerce when Alissa started raising funds. "Alissa was stepping into unknown territory to make things happen for people who needed immediate assistance," Lynda says. "She has a real compassion and a need to go the extra mile."

Now, as executive director of SLVEF, Alissa fields calls for help from area police stations, rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters.

Victims fill out a one-page application explaining their emergency need and detailing exactly what help they are seeking. While most relief agencies use income to disqualify applicants, Alissa doesn't take family finances into account. "Some couples make a lot of money, but often the wife, who is a victim of domestic violence, doesn't have access to that funding," she says.

To keep the organization's coffers filled, Alissa applies for grants and holds fundraisers. She also asks prosecutors to request reimbursement from perpetrators in court-ordered restitution. The paybacks help make the offenders accountable, a character trait sorely lacking in most domestic violence criminals, she says. "They are paying our emergency fund back for their bad choices." Not all donations have to be monetary. Businesses can also help by supplying such things as hotel rooms, food or clothing, at no charge to crime victims.

Alissa willingly donates her lunch hours at work and uses the leisure time she could spend with her husband to scrutinize SLVEF applications, get checks signed and secure supplies. Such dedication has reaped great results, Chief Fondaco says. "She's invested a lot of time to make this thing work," he says, "and she is the only reason it is a success."

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