Volunteers offer comfort in darkest hours

During the week, David Moss is a marketing representative at a major insurance company; Soneska Rivera works in accounting.

But for a couple of weekends each month, they are the first source of comfort for people who have undergone a traumatic event.

Moss and Rivera volunteer their time as victim advocates at the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, responding to suicides, homicides and overdoses.

The calls range widely, from elderly people who died naturally to children and toddlers who did not.

“My pay is knowing I made a difference in someone’s life,” Rivera said.

Rivera, 44, and Moss, 41, each became an advocate after learning about the program during a citizen’s law enforcement academy session about four years ago. After expressing an interest, they had to undergo a vetting process that included a polygraph examination and background check before they were allowed to shadow one of the department’s four paid full-time advocates.

“I wanted to force myself to get deeper and figure out that other side of who we are as people at our toughest time,” Moss said. “I felt a calling to be able to give back and help people whenever they need help.”

After being requested by law enforcement to the scene of a tragedy, advocates have to straddle a line between being comforting and direct when delivering news about a loss.

They then assist the victim in any way they can — whether it’s making sure they are eating and drinking, connecting them with various resources or relaying information from law-enforcement officers.

“It takes somebody who’s both soft and tough at the same time,” said Saundra Blanding, the coordinator of the department’s victim services program. “You have to be pretty savvy at taking care of yourself.”

Sheriff Dennis Lemma said he is “extremely proud” of the agency’s victim advocates.

The number of volunteers fluctuates; there are currently about four to eight.

“Every single day of the year, they are there to provide our residents assistance and reassurance during the most difficult times of their lives,” Lemma said. “It is a stressful, demanding job. They are heroes.”

On one call, Moss went to an apartment complex where a man was suspected of shooting his girlfriend to death in front of her two young children — a 4-year-old girl and 9-year-old boy. Moss walked into the apartment lobby to speak with the children, who were still unaware that their mother had died. The son was drawing pictures of his mom.

“He kept asking me, ‘Is Mommy going to be OK? Is Mommy going to be OK?’ ” Moss said.

Moss said he noticed the boy was wearing only one shoe. He went back to the scene to look for the missing shoe and saw it lying next to the body.

“I thought, my gosh. He was standing next to his mom when she was killed,” Moss said. “And he ran out of his shoe.”