Since the beginning of the year, our Precious Lives series has been telling the story of the impact gun violence has on people and communities. When the media does stories about mass shootings, we often hear that counseling services are made available to people who were traumatized by the incident.
But that’s not something that always – or even often – happens with a single, isolated murder, even though those incidents can be just as traumatic as the high-profile cases.
A program introduced this week hopes to change the situation. It’s a joint project of the Milwaukee Police Department and the Salvation Army.
The new chaplaincy program will train people to provide emotional and other support for people who have been affected by gun violence in Milwaukee.
"We're not there for just the few hours after the shooting," Tom Thuecks, service extension director for the Salvation Army’s divisional headquarters, says. "We're going to wrap ourselves around this family or whoever is open to us to help them. It might be with funeral arrangements, it might be with some other financial burdens, it might be some mental health issues."
