Mend Collaborative

Trino Jimenez is a crime survivor, a man of deep faith, and a Victim Offender Dialogue (VOD) facilitator at Mend Collaborative. He was given an amazing gift in 2015 when the opportunity arose to write to the man who was responsible for taking his brother’s life many years earlier. After two years of letter exchange, on March 16, 2017, Trino took a trip to Solano State Prison to participate in a VOD– a face to face meeting and a day of healing– with the person responsible for his brother’s death. In April of 2018, Trino once again returned to the prison in a neutral support of the responsible party in his parole hearing where he was denied parole. Finally, in December of 2019, Trino was able to witness a transformed man be found suitable for parole, after 34 years of incarceration. Today Trino accompanies survivors in their journey through the VOD and trains new VOD facilitators at Mend Collaborative. As a part of this role, Trino has been invited to share his story with legislators at the Smart Justice California Retreat and Policy Summit, has presented on the Mend Collaborative Model of Co-Facilitation at the National Association of Victim Assistance (NOVA) training, and has supported several Day of Healing events across California prisons. He has presented to Law Students at UCLA, supported projects for Human Rights Watch and Parole Justice Works, and has shared his story at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit. Trino hopes to continue on this path of healing and is thankful to share a space with the person who caused him so much devastation and pain by joining him in sharing with those who are in need of healing and hope. His story is a story of brokenness used to mend the broken. Trino Jimenez lives in Whittier California.