This story is part of Reframing Crime Narratives, a 10-part series about public safety by The TRiiBE to create space for community conversation about crime in Chicago.
The series is supported in part by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Envisioning Justice grant by Illinois Humanities.
After someone is shot, it takes a village to heal, involving numerous community organizations, medical workers, and mental health professionals.
Dominique McCord, chief program officer at Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI), works within this care ecosystem in Chicago and she’s committed to social justice from her upbringing on the West Side.
“I was raised to believe it’s OK to seek help, but I also understood that help is often stigmatized in the African-American community.”
MPI collaborates with medical and mental health professionals to support gun violence survivors through a community-focused approach, addressing these underlying stigmas.
McCord highlights the importance of partnering with universities, too, to build internship programs, addressing provider shortages and pay disparities. With 9.8 million people in Illinois living in one of the state’s 221 mental health care shortage areas, MPI uses its behavioral health services, civil legal aid and workforce readiness programs to support victims and survivors of gun violence with a trauma-informed approach.
“Breaking down these barriers with culturally sensitive and responsive support has always been important to me,” McCord said. “I take a hands-on approach to work with both my staff and the community, aiming to bridge the gap between perceptions and realistic support.”
Survivors face challenges such as physical rehabilitation, mental health struggles like PTSD and anxiety, financial difficulties from medical bills and loss of income, and social reintegration. Many need extensive physical therapy and mental health support, often complicated by the stigma of seeking help.
In Chicago, dedicated individuals and groups work tirelessly to support victims and survivors of gun violence, addressing both immediate needs and long-term healing. Some survivors face the battle of regaining their livelihood and independence alone. Others rely on a network of support.
According to the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab, there are about 600 homicides and 2,800 shootings each year in Chicago, underscoring the critical need for comprehensive support systems. Cook County, where Chicago is located, has a gun death rate of 18.2 per 100,000 people. In comparison, counties like St. Clair and Vermilion in Illinois have higher gun death rates, with 24.3 and 22.3 per 100,000 people, respectively.
Despite increased gun violence across the country, dozens of Black-led organizations in Chicago are rallying together to strengthen the systems that often leave survivors and victims of gun violence unclear on how to move forward and truly heal.
“In our community, many of our therapists are licensed clinical social workers or licensed clinical practical counselors. But even in that distinction, folks see the social worker as someone associated with ‘penalty.’ They don’t typically see individuals in the counseling and therapy helping professions as coming to their aid during these times,” McCord said.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, just 39% of Black and African Americans received mental health services compared to 52% of non-Hispanic Whites. Only 2% of psychiatrists and 4% of psychologists in the United States are Black according to the American Psychiatric Association.
To combat these challenges, MPI employs pre-engagement services that involve meeting victims in familiar and comfortable settings, such as their homes, schools, or community centers, to build trust and ensure they feel safe. They also use outreach workers with lived experiences to connect with residents. Known as “credible messengers”, these outreach workers provide a warm hand-off, ensuring that victims feel understood and supported.
Les Jenkins, a gun violence survivor and associate director of Reentry and Support Services at the Institute of Nonviolence Chicago, uses a wrap-around approach to victim advocacy and healing. He provides individualized community-based services for youths and families, focusing on building relationships, mediating conflicts, navigating peace agreements, and combating misinformation on social media.
These services help individuals cope with trauma, reintegrate into their communities, and rebuild their lives by addressing mental health, employment, and educational needs. The goal is to promote long-term well-being and create a supportive network for fulfilling lives.
“In our practice, we are intentional about offering resources we have access to, which is crucial for establishing healthy relationships and starting strong. We don’t do it alone; we maintain good relationships with partners and utilize all our resources. It’s a wraparound process involving clergymen, business owners, and other partners within our ecosystem,” Jenkins said.
The Institute of Nonviolence Chicago also collaborates with Rush University and Rush Medical Center, employing a clinical team and victim advocates to provide holistic care. Jenkins explained that their strategy for partnerships and community violence intervention involves a five-part process: outreach and relationship building, community canvassing to gather information, immediate response from victim advocates, long-term case management and reentry services, and a focus on behavioral health and wellness. This comprehensive approach is supported by a wide network of partners and has earned national recognition for its effectiveness.
JaShawn Hill, a licensed clinical social worker and executive director of Chicago Survivors, also brings her personal experience as a survivor to her role in supporting gun violence victims. Chicago Survivors offers programs like youth clinical counseling and psycho-education to address anger management and reduce PTSD development.
Hill emphasized the significance of combining clinical care with community-based interventions and collaboration to provide equitable support. Her dedication to addressing trauma and promoting long-term healing is driven by personal experience.
“I can speak from direct experience as well as theory and practice. I’ve seen it firsthand as a practitioner, as a leader in my community, developing social services, and also as a member of the community. My brother was taken due to violence in Chicago in December of 2008. Around October 2015, I knew that this would be a path for me to support others who had experienced what my family, siblings, and myself had experienced with the sudden and traumatic death of our only brother. This has deeply affected my family and me, shaping my approach to this work by providing a unique perspective on the challenges and needs within our community,” Hill said.
The key to healing is collaboration. Hill notes that the more community-based organizations, hospital systems, and other entities work together like a village, the more effective the healing and treatment plan for the community will be. Without this collaboration, Hill stated, the work would be overwhelming and take a negative toll.
“We need a holistic approach to healing injuries by both perpetrators, as well as victims who have often been in both roles in their early traumatic experiences in high-risk settings. There must be a balance between accountability, restoration, and structural strategies to reduce oppressive conditions that contribute to or exacerbate violence,” said Dr. Jaleel K. Abdul-Adil, co-director of the Urban Youth Trauma Center of the University of Illinois Chicago.
The Urban Youth Trauma Center primarily trains community-based providers who offer frontline resistance responses and services. They address the traumatic and behavioral responses to gun, gang, and other forms of community violence while also supporting self-care to reduce secondary traumatic stress among service providers.
Their protocols are based on evidence-based practices derived from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, along with their own best practices for violence prevention and culturally competent services.
Another organization navigating systemic barriers and addressing short-term and long-term mental health gaps in Chicago — such as lack of insurance, disproportionate policing and sentencing, provider shortages, and underinvestment — is Centro Sanar. Edwin Martinez, co-founder and the executive director at Centro Sanar and a licensed social worker, leads in providing long-term, community-centered care beyond the average care span of three to six months. Edwin recognized that recovery is not a one-size-fits-all journey.
“I’ve had the honor to support families immediately after a loss from community-based violence, like shootings, stabbings, and beatings. Supporting families affected by homicide involves both the immediate impact of the loss and recognizing that the healing process isn’t linear. Often, families, particularly Black and Brown people, have faced previous traumas and systemic injustices, adding complexity to their healing journey,” Martinez said.
When a person is shot or killed, they encounter systems like the police, hospitals, and crisis response services. Martinez and his colleagues support families years after their loss, addressing various time points and overcoming numerous barriers.
Centro Sanar addresses disparities in service coordination and funding by implementing trauma-based responses and clinical modalities, like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Martinez’s work amplifies the need for a personalized, long-term healing approach, often reconnecting with survivors years after the incident.
“Authentically listening to community members/survivors of violence and being present in their journey is important to uplifting their voice,” Martinez said.
Similarly, Martine Caverl of Ujimaa Medics, an organization that began in 2014 from Caverl’s home, gives power back to the community by equipping civilians, residents, and bystanders with first aid and de-escalation techniques.
Caverl said the ongoing challenges of police disruptions during bystander care.
“One thing that’s been coming up a lot is police disrupting care provided by bystanders. When someone witnesses an incident, goes to provide first aid, they are the ones who call 911, like ‘hey we need an ambulance.’ Police show up first and then essentially make them stop,” Caverl said.
This issue exposes a significant problem in emergency response coordination. A study found that bystanders were present in 97% of trauma cases and correctly performed critical first aid for 81% of patients, but only 35% had some first aid training, which significantly improved care quality.
Caverl teaches skills to stop bleeding, spread calm, communicate with 911 operators, and reduce time to hospital arrival. By building networks with survivor groups and offering workshops on basic and advanced gunshot wound training, CPR, and asthma emergency care, Ujimaa Medics fosters determination and shared responsibility.
The communal strategies of local organizations, and medical and mental health professionals provide a blueprint for more effective and equitable care. By addressing systemic barriers through collaboration and power shifting, survivors, victims, and their families are better able to navigate the long road to recovery. Caverl said, “we’re transforming bystanders and empowering people to apply the principles of community care response.”
