In January 2020, EJUSA board member Lisa Good joined five other people for a roundtable discussion, moderated by actress Julianne Moore, about the enduring—and often ignored— trauma that survivors face in the aftermath of gun violence.
The discussion came on the heels of National Gun Violence Survivors Week, highlighting the experiences of survivors and what they wish others knew about how trauma sustains.
Like her fellow roundtable members, Lisa’s story is deeply personal. When she was 17 years old, her cousin Jay was murdered. Lisa received no support after this loss, and instead of being able to heal, she fell into severe depression and feelings of survivor’s guilt that lasted well into her adulthood.
“The cycle of trauma and how trauma fuels violence… is something that we can’t ignore,” Lisa says. She describes how not receiving acknowledgement and support for her trauma lead her to feel immense depression and survivor’s guilt for years. In the midst of this trauma, she experienced a violent sexual assault, and sought her own revenge for what had been done to her.
“In that moment, with that layer of trauma, I wanted a gun…and if that gun had been accessible, I would have been looking for that person who violated me,” she recalls.
After decades of grappling with the loss of one of her closest family members, Lisa founded Urban Grief, a nonprofit based in Albany, New York, that provides trauma-informed support to survivors of violence. For her, founding the organization was not a way to heal herself, but to fill the critical gap in support that exists for survivors in the wake of gun violence.
“What people don’t understand is that the loss and the trauma is enduring. It evolves, you mature, you grow, you heal, but it’s still enduring,” she says.
Watch the video below to learn more from Lisa and other survivors on the importance of trauma-informed care, and the often overlooked nuances that arise in the wake of violence.
