Here’s how California can help gun violence survivors begin to heal | Opinion
Being a gun violence survivor is an experience that we were never meant to hold alone. Stories of harm, silence and the long, quiet work of surviving must be shared. That is why survivors across California came up with the Trauma Healing and Resilience Investment for Victimized and Exposed Youth (THRIVE) Act.
Assembly Bill 2247, sponsored by Assemblymember Sade Elhawary, D-Los Angeles, Californians for Safety and Justice and Youth Alive! ensures that every young survivor of gun violence in California has access to free, trauma-informed mental health services. It passed the California Assembly and is now in the Senate.
I was 16 years old when I got shot in the face. A group of friends was over for a sleepover at my house in Vallejo. All I remember is that I was on the phone the next morning when a boy who I thought was my friend suddenly got up and fired his gun. I still don’t know why he shot me or why he had a gun. That was two years ago.
In the weeks and months after I was shot, I felt like nobody felt my pain — both physical and emotional. I was already a young, chunky Black girl with insecurities. I felt unworthy, not wanting to wake up in the morning, not knowing if I could make it through the day. I had many sleepless nights, asking God, “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?” When I could sleep, I’d have nightmares.
Nearly 6,000 individuals aged 25 and under are injured by or witness gun violence in California every year. Fewer than one in three receive any mental health support within six months. The THRIVE Act would change that. The estimated annual cost of $7,800 per person is a promise to young survivors that they don’t have to navigate healing alone, without support, recognition or justice.
I needed help. I applied twice for California’s Victim Compensation but never received support. It wasn’t until I met a mental health counselor at Youth Alive!—a community-based organization in Oakland serving gun violence victims and survivors—that I finally began receiving resources and learning the value of talking about my trauma.
A therapist changed everything. Having a strong support system helped me reconnect with myself and focus on the fact that I survived. My therapist offered a warm, safe, quiet space where I finally felt heard.
No one should navigate surviving gun violence alone. I was given the help that I needed, but countless survivors are going without these services, feeling like there’s no one to help them out of this dark hole.
The THRIVE Act would ensure that young survivors get immediate access to mental health support to offset the California Victims Compensation Board’s complicated application process. Research shows victims are getting millions of dollars of less help in the last five years, and only one in five survivors reported knowing about the victims’ compensation program.
By passing the THRIVE Act, we’re saying that survival should not come with lifelong suffering. Dignity, protection and care are not privileges — they are rights.
I’m grateful that I was able to get support. But there are countless survivors still going without it. For every unheard voice and for every life reshaped by pain, this is how we begin to make it right.
Jazzy Eastman is a survivor of gun violence from Oakland.