Thirty-seven frames, 25 pictures in each.
Those 925 faces that line the walls on the second floor of the Compassionate Families office are why Ryan Backmann and Carl Harms are there.
They are there for the families of those faces and nearly 2,000 more, for which they don't have photos. All died suddenly and violently.
As victim advocates for Compassionate Families, Backmann and Harms counsel survivors of homicide, attend their court hearings and help them work their way through the system.
They let families know others have gone through the same experience and made it through. Backmann and Harms know that is possible because each of their fathers is on that wall.
Cliff Backmann was shot in the back during a 2009 robbery at a construction site in Jacksonville. He survived long enough to call 911 but died soon afterward. The crime remains unsolved.
James Harms died in 2007 in Mississippi in a two-stage accident involving two drunken drivers. One of the drivers served less than four years. The other was never charged.
Backmann and Harms first began joining Compassionate Families events as survivors of homicide. Then they volunteered at Camp Maddie — named after 8-year-old Maddie Clifton who was murdered by her 14-year-old neighbor in 1998.
Ultimately, Backmann and Harms joined the staff, which has two other members. Glen Mitchell, whose son Jeff was killed in a robbery outside Terry Parker High School in 1993, co-founded the group in 1998. Sandra Jones started as an advocate in 2004 after her 20-month-old grandson, Justice, died four years earlier in a child abuse case.
It's the cases involving the children — the babies — that are the hardest to understand. But there are so many over the years, many barely out of diapers.
"They are totally defenseless," Harms said.
And then there are the families who have more than one victim in those frames.
The Kirkland brothers who died at ages 12 and 13 with their aunt in a drive-by shooting.
A mother who lost her only children — three sons — in separate incidents from 1991 to 2012.
A father and son who shared the same name and the same fate several years apart.
"For some of them, it's a world we're just not used to," Backmann said. "Nobody should have to be used to losing people in their family."
The nonprofit works hard to stay in touch with the families through emails, social media and phone calls. They also have several vigils throughout the year and regular support group meetings.
Most of Compassionate Families' $215,000 budget comes from grants, though it receives a small percentage through donations. Employees also found creative ways to make money. Their building is across Broad Street from the new courthouse, so they have sublet several of the parking spots included in their lease to bring in some extra money.
Their grants can only be used for direct services to clients. That means they often have to wait to cover big expenses — the air-conditioning on the second floor was out for three weeks — as well as small ones — they have enough photos to hang another frame with 25 photos on the wall, but the money isn't there now for a frame.
They also need volunteers.
Backmann believes if all of the faces on the wall were victims of a particular disease, there would be more help.
"Because it's murder, people don't like to be associated with it or they simply can't relate," he said.
Harms cited a quote from Benjamin Franklin to help illustrate that point. "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are."
That doesn't deter them from their work.
Backmann and Harms share a small office and a large passion to help people heal.
But they share so much more than that.
@editormarilyn
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