KRISTINA ROSE: We all have a role to play in helping crime victims find healing. Knowing what the options are is so important because every survivor is different. Services are how we operationalize those options. And hope is that catalyst that can change the trajectory of someone's life. You can be the one to give that person hope.
SHARON ROBERSON: At the heart of domestic violence is one person exercising control over another. Anything and everything can be used to hold you in that control cycle. And pets are used.
WOMAN: Hey! Who do we have here?
SHARON ROBERSON: Oftentimes women do not leave an abusive relationship because they would leave their pet behind.
KATY SHARP: The primary purpose of what we do is to hold space for families with pets. It's trauma-informed care. It teaches both pets and their pet owners how to interact within a way that reduces anxiety. It has been really cool to witness the transformation when you see people progress to being more confident.
SHARON ROBERSON: And it has been a game-changer because this takes away one more barrier to coming into shelter for these women and children.
MONICA MARTINEZ: Uvalde, Texas, is my hometown. This is a community that has been impacted by ongoing exposure to violence. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy at Robb Elementary, survivors were in pain. We could think about what kinds of readings might be helpful for them to understand how people that were directly impacted being at the center of experiencing trauma or harm and it rippling out to affect bigger circles. I'm a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin.
I reached out to colleagues across campus, who I knew had treated children that were victims of gun violence. We realized there wasn't a playbook that could work in a rural town like Uvalde. So, we worked with community members to develop a resource guide that is available both in English and in Spanish to start to pull together and help people access those resources.
It's inspiring to see the commitment by community members to help each other, especially in these crucial moments when we're trying to support victims and survivors of mass violence.
TENNILLE PEREIRA: With the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting, we had people from all over the world, so the ripple effects went across the globe.
ROBERT FIELDEN: People within Las Vegas started the gardens downtown as a temporary memorial. TENNILLE PEREIRA: It's so important to hear the voices of survivors of crime and to engage with them because there is an opportunity for healing in the process of doing a memorial.
ROBERT FIELDEN: As we went about our work as a committee, we looked to the community to provide us guidance, to provide us insight, to provide us with ideas. This was something they could do that they'd never been asked to do before.
HAROLD BRADFORD: As an artist and a community member, you never know who you're gonna touch. There's something inside of you that you're able to express that will bring joy to other people.
TENNILLE PEREIRA: There were so many beacons of light. People wanting to help in whatever capacity they could. This is a memorial to that goodness, to that shared light, and not just the evil that happened that night.
KRISTINA ROSE: No matter who a survivor comes in contact with, that person may be the bridge to the help that they need to find healing.
Everybody has a role to play.
How would you help?
